


The Simple Things That Make Us

by awake0rdreaming



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Not Beta Read, Stalia, Stalia endgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-14
Updated: 2016-01-30
Packaged: 2018-04-20 18:02:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 24,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4797008
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/awake0rdreaming/pseuds/awake0rdreaming
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU where Stiles asks his college roommate Malia to pretend to be his girlfriend when he goes back to Beacon Hills. Things he did not count on: Malia and Lydia getting along, finding out she is a werecoyote, and how the hell were they going to trick a True Alpha into believing them?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. An Active Choice

_A/N: Disclaimer for all chapters: Teen Wolf and all its characters do not belong to me._

\---

“Oh good your here! Malia I need a favour!” Stiles said as soon as Malia walked into their dorm room looking like she hadn’t slept all night. Which she hadn’t. And now all she wanted was to go have a nap before heading to her next exam in 6 hours.

“Not now Stiles. Can’t begin to tell you how pooped I am! This chat will have to wait.”

“No no this can't wait any longer. I need you to agree to this now.”

“Fine. But I let me get some coffee first.” Malia rubbed her eyes tiredly as she sat down opposite him. When she looked up there was a cup of coffee sitting on the table beside an innocent looking Stiles. Malia frowned suspiciously as she accepted the cup. “Okay Stilinski, what the fuck could not wait till later?”

“Okay so don’t get mad..but-” Stiles cut off by noticing Malia’s furious look.  "It’s nothing too bad. It’s just that…Itoldlydiathatweweredating.”

“What was that?”

Stiles turned red in the face and stared at his hands. “I-I told Lydia that we were dating?”

“Wait! You mean The Lydia? That girl you’d been drooling over for all of high school?! ”

“Not  _all_  of high school…” Stiles said lamely.

“Stiles! Lydia was the only thing you mentioned to me about high school. Lydia and Scott. It was like some sort of private club of three people or something…God, I mean especially when your drunk…” Malia ranted, not noticing Stiles turning redder by the second. “…I know what  _shampoo_ she uses for God’s sake! And now you want to pretend you're  _not_  infatuated with Lydia? Why didn’t you just tell her the truth?”

“Tell her the Truth??” Stiles asked. “Look I tried okay! But you try admitting a ‘oh Lydia I’m still single and have gone on handful of first dates that have never amounted to anything’ to someone!”

Malia closed her eyes briefly. Stiles had a point. That  _did_  sound slightly pathetic. Not that she was calling Stiles pathetic. “Well…no that’s not what-”

“Do you know, one of the first things she mentions after the ‘hi how are yous’, was if I was bringing my boyfriend or girlfriend to meet the…the group. And I just wanted to show her that...Yeah, I had moved on. That I had finally stopped holding out for her!” Stiles took a deep breath letting it out slowly. “I don’t know.. Maybe..maybe…I was just trying to make her jealous.Show her that someone was interested in me finally.” Stiles ran his fingers through his hair, making it stand up ridiculously.  

“Stiles…” Malia’s hand immediately went to his hair. She never could stand seeing Stiles look so worn down and defeated. Any fight she might have had, slowly went out of her. And she knew Stiles knew she’d cave sooner or later. She always did with his schemes. “Okay.” She said quietly patting the unruly hair down. “Okay, I’ll do it. I’ll-I’ll be your pretend girlfriend.”

“Thanks Malia,” Stiles said equally quiet.

Malia went to get up but then thought of something, “You know Stiles, there have been girls that have liked you after the first date. Or just liked you period. But from experience, I know that when a person likes someone else, they don’t often notice who might be into them.”

“Let’s say I liked you. But you wouldn’t have noticed because you liked someone else, and so you’d never see the potential that we might have had.  Do you see what I mean?” Malia paused looking at Stiles. Stiles nodded slowly and Malia smiled. Not for the first time was she thankful that Stiles was human. Then he wouldn’t know that her heart hadn’t stuttered.  

“Well, I’ll be in my room if you need me,” Malia said gently as she got up and went to her room, closing her door. Stiles finally looked up and sighed. How did he always manage to get himself into this type of mess?

\--

They had been driving for three hours already. Traffic had been so bad, what with everyone trying to get out of the city as soon as their exams got over. Malia woke up from her nap and looked around. Suddenly she sat up straighter. “Where are we?”

“Approaching Beacon Hills in say half hour or so,” Stiles replied, his eyes on the road.

Malia leaned back against the back rest and took deep breaths. Breathe Malia, breathe.  It’s fine, your fine. She calmed herself down feeling her claws slowly receding. If she wasn’t careful, Stiles would know about her secret. She had been doing pretty well so far, and they lived together so... So it would be fine, right?

“Uh… great. Can’t wait to rest in an actual bed!” she said quickly and Stiles grinned at her. “So does your dad know you’re bringing me?”

“Yeah, I told him. That you were coming… Not the other thing though.”

“So…we’re lying to everyone?”

Stiles looked at her briefly and sighed. “My dad is horrible at keeping secrets. You’d think him being Sheriff, that he’d be better at it but NO! Tell Melissa everything! And seriously, if anyone else found out, I think I’d just melt the ground and stay there for the rest of the trip,” Malia rolled her eyes at Stiles’s dramatics.

She took out her phone and dialed a number. Stiles listened to the one-sided conversation mildly, rethinking about the plan he’d set in motion. They had to be careful, especially around Scott.  Who knew how good his reading chemo signals had gotten. He remembered the chat he and Malia had had earlier in the week. If they stuck to the plan, the two weeks would be up in no time. He heard Malia hanging up the phone. “Calling home?”

“My cousin. He’ll tell dad.”

“Okay, well let’s go over the backstory again.” Malia groaned. “Come on Lia! It  _has_  to be perfect, okay? So, how long have we been dating?”

“It’s a recent development.” Maila replied. They had argued on this point until she had worn him down, stating best to stick as close to the truth as possible. Stiles had finally relented to logic. “We were roommates, turned friends, turned..you know.”

“We’ll be fine.” Stiles drummed the steering wheel of his blue jeep. “We’ll be just fine.” Malia glanced sideways at her to be fake boyfriend. Stiles sounded like he was desperately trying to convince himself. And he was starting to stink with anxiety. Malia tried not to crinkle her nose too much. She wanted to reassure him, but it really wasn’t her style. She could only stand sappy moments for so long.  Whatever. Stiles knew not to expect much out of her.

“Wait! Do you want me to be sappy?”

“Why do I get the feeling you are continuing a conversation you were having with yourself a second ago?”

“Stiles!!”

“God no Malia! Just be yourself okay? Geez.” he snapped at her. They spent the rest of the trip in silence.  

As they pulled in the driveway of Stiles’s home and parked, Stiles took Malia’s hand in his. She looked up at him slightly puzzled. “Hey I’m sorry about earlier” Malia shrugged her shoulders, pulling her hand out of his grasp and opened the door. Stiles put his hand on her shoulder and pulled her back in, “Please, please don’t be mad at me. I’m just nervous, okay? I know that it's you that’s helping me, and willing to spending more time with me than you normally would, when you could be home right now. I really really do appreciate you being here.”

“Stiles, its fine. Seriously. And no chick flick moments, please.” Stiles gave her his best puppy dog eyes. She grinned, “Okay okay fine! I’m happy to be here and help you out. No one’s forcing me. It’s just that I know people in Beacon Hills, and I just don’t want to bump into them. That’s all.”

“Oh. Okay then. Come on let’s go.” Stiles leaped out of the a car and picked up the bags. 

\--

“Hey Malia! Dinner’s ready! Mali-” Stiles stopped by the door of his room, looking around “What happened to my room?”

“You mean other than being able to see your room’s floor for once?” Malia arched her eyebrow at him.  

Stiles grinned, noting how different they were. Malia had put away majority of her things, and although it didn’t scream organized, it was tidy. He looked at the rest of the room in all its messiness.  “Sorry about the-” he gestured around them, “I don't usually have female company over...”

“It's fine. I don't mind it that much. You said something about dinner?”

“Yeah hope you don’t mind frozen pizza? Seems like dad hasn’t been to the supermarket lately, so freezer food is our best bet.” 

“Pizza’s perfect!” Malia said happily sitting on the bed beside Stiles.

He turned towards her, sitting cross-legged. “Okay, let’s go over our story again.” 

Malia groaned,“Stiles. All we’ve done so far is discuss the story. Frankly I’m getting tired of the story already. You do want me to be  _excited_ to share our relationship don’t you? We’ll be fine. Besides if we rehearse it too much it will sound rehearsed.” 

“No, you don’t get it.” Stiles insisted. “Scott has this…special ability that allows him to hear if someone is lying. It’s like he can hear your heart beat..smell your fear. He’s promised not to use it on me, but your fair game. You-why are you frowning?” 

Malia spoke to the bedspread trying to conceal her facial expression as much as possible. She had to ask. And if Stiles had no idea what she meant, that was an answer in itself wasn’t it? She prayed for the latter, tracing a stitch pattern with a finger. “Stiles… I’m going to ask you this once. And I want you to think carefully about what you are going to say and answer me truthfully, okay?” Stiles nodded. “Are you a member of a pack?”

\--

When Sheriff Stilinski came home that evening, the house was quiet but the lights were on which meant Stiles and his friend had arrived. He made his way to the living room and stopped short. Stiles and Malia were sitting on the couch eating in silence, their back to him.

The Sheriff observed them noting the tensed posture and diverted gazes. This had to be Stiles’ new girlfriend that he’d failed mention. Not that he was surprised. Sometimes Stiles was an over sharer and sometimes he was good at keeping a secret. Like how he learned about Scott being a werewolf almost a year or so after getting the bite.

“Okay what’s going on?” He said out loud, alarming the two of them. 

“Dad!” Stiles leaped up off the couch followed by Malia who gave him a tentative smile. Stiles came over and gave him a warm hug. “Good to see you!" 

“You too, son” Sheriff clapped Stiles on the back and waited for the introduction.

Stiles grinned turning to her, so she saw the slight nervousness on his face,“This is Malia... My girlfriend.”

“Nice to meet you,” Sheriff shook hands with Malia exchanging friendly smiles.  Malia usually an outgoing person, turned shy when meeting Stiles’ dad for the first time.  

“Well hope you kids got something to eat. And don’t stay up too late.” Stiles and Malia nodded in unison. As Sheriff made his way up the stairs he said over his shoulder, “and make up already.”

“Well that wasn’t embarrassing at all.” Malia grumbled breaking the silence. 

Stiles turned sharply towards her. “How could you have not mentioned to me that you’re a coyote?”

“Werecoyote,” Malia corrected automatically. “and  _you_  never smelt like pack at uni. How was I supposed to know I was rooming with a Mccall Pack member?” 

“Are we famous?” Stiles asked. 

“Stiles! That's not the point… Scott will know I’m an omega.”

“Right.” Stiles began pacing back and forth. Malia sank back on the couch and waited. “So..so we can it to our advantage!" 

“Use what?”

Stiles started grinning and continued his thought, "that’s why I haven’t mentioned you to the pack. Right? Cause intermingling between packs is not allowed? Frankly I’m still more concerned with us being believable. And not just for Scott, but Lydia too.” 

“Well I think he’ll believe we’re together.” Stiles looked at her questioningly. “We smell the same, Stiles.” 

“We do?”

“Well I don’t have high levels of anxiety around me all the time,” Stiles made a face at her, “but yeah, we do.”  Malia smiled at him fondly. “Anyways, you heard your dad, we should probably get to bed.” She took Stiles plate and hers to the kitchen sink.

“Mal! We’re on holiday! Let’s stay up late and watch a movie.”

“Not Star Wars!” Malia said automatically.

“Oh come on! As my girlfriend you’re expected to have watched Star Wars with me by now!” Stiles shot back. Malia’s heart started beating erratically. Stiles dropped the word _girlfriend_  with so much ease, like it was natural.

Malia crossed her arms and stayed her ground. She looked at his movie collection to find something to compromise with. “Okay, how about Back to the Future? I’ll watch the entire series with you over the course of my stay.” Malia tried sweetening the deal. On occasion when Stiles wasn’t trying to force her into watching Star Wars, he was trying to get her to watch Back to the Future. Predictably, his eyes lit up like a Christmas tree at the mention of the latter movie, and he leaped to put the movie on, before Malia changed her mind.  

Malia shook her head amused and followed him. She was fake dating a child. A very cute and excited child.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my first solo fanfiction writing in any fandom, so please be gentle. I was looking for a fake/pretend Stalia a while back and couldn't find one, and then this happened! I originally started writing on Tumblr, but I thought how it would be cool if people did not have to search the tags in order to find the chapters. I'll update as fast as I can time permitting :) All mistakes are my own.


	2. My Side Your Side

Stiles' dad walked in the kitchen and sighed, “What now?”

Malia was glaring at her cereal and Stiles’ hair was mussed up like he’d been running his hand through it a lot. Stiles ignored him. “I told you it was a small bed. It usually holds only one person”

“When you invited me to stay, I thought you would have had the common sense to have planned the sleeping arrangements a little better.”

“And _I_ thought you said sharing the bed was okay?”

“Stiles, I said I wouldn’t mind sleeping in the same bed. I  _mind_ that I ended up on the floor!”

“I’m with her on this one”

“Not helping, dad.” Sheriff shrugged his shoulders and helped himself to some coffee. Stiles turned to Malia to see a big grin on her face.

“Well, congratulations, he likes you now.”

“Anyone that can out sass my boy, is welcome in my home.”

Stiles rolled his eyes and threw his hands up, “Still not helping! It was kinda funny though, right?” he pursed his lips trying not to laugh at the memory of a disgruntled Malia on the floor.

Malia shot him a look, but his smile was so infectious. She glanced down at something and her eyes lit up.  Stiles suddenly felt his vision tilt as one minute he was on his chair and the next, falling on the floor, “Ow!”

Malia’s face appeared over the table and she grinned down at him, “You’re right. It is kinda funny.” Stiles scowled at her opening up his mouth to retort back when the sheriff cut in.

“Why don’t you take the couch, Stiles?” It really wasn’t any of his business, but common sense seemed to have been robbed of his son at the moment.

“No. It’s fine. I’ll take the couch. ” Malia’s words had a sense of finality to them. “I’m going to get ready. When did you say Scott wanted to meet?”

“He said 12:30,” Malia nodded and bound up the stairs two at a time. Stiles then noticed his dad giving him a look. “What?”

“Are you sure you guys are dating?” Stilinski asked shaking his head at his son, who stood there opening and closing his mouth, trying to find a response. He gestured at the stairs with his thumb, “Just go.”

\---

Stiles took off up the stairs. He heard some shuffling in his room and opened the door. Malia was looking through her things wrapped only in a towel. She stood up straight when she saw him enter the room.

He had seen her in a towel a dozen times back in their apartment, but it was weird seeing her like this in his childhood room. He walked right up to her, standing in her personal space, “I think he’s onto us,” he whispered.

Malia started feeling self conscious with Stiles so close to her, especially since she was completely naked underneath her towel, “You couldn’t have told me that from across the room?” Malia arched her eyebrow at him.“ Last time I checked, he wasn’t a supernatural creature.”

“Uh yeah, but you were distracting me with  _this_.” He gestured to her body vaguely, “At least this way I can only see your face.”

“I’m flattered.” Malia deadpanned. “You’ve seen me in a towel before, so stop being weird. And FYI Stiles? You suck at being me boyfriend.”

“Like you’re doing any better.” They smiled at one another.

“So we both suck at this. Fine. But he’s your dad. He’s bound to notice that something’s up. And if someone had to figure it out before our gig is up, I’ll be more than happy if its your dad.”

Stiles nodded silently in agreement, checking her out once more as she walked toward the washroom. 

When Malia came back after her shower, she found Stiles laying on his bed. "I was thinking…” He looked down from staring at the ceiling, at Malia who had her arms crossed on her chest. She was wearing a worn, faded green off the shoulder top and jean shorts that were frayed at the bottom. She looked…good. He looked at her wet hair and the water droplets on her bare shoulders and swallowed slightly, “ I was thinking…”

“You said that already.”  Malia said just to be an ass. Getting a rise out of Stiles was fun.  

Stiles glared at her, “…that we should practice.“ He changed into a seated position on the bed. "Our body language toward each other. It might help, since you know…"He watched as her expression change to a thoughtful one.

"Okay. So being more touchy feely? I could work on that,” Malia nodded. “But can we discuss this further when we’re on our way please?”

“Yeah, and…I’ll take the couch tonight, okay?” Malia smiled at him in thanks and then made a shooing motion with her hands. 

“Right,” Stiles stood up. “I’ll go now,” he left quickly, closing the door. Once in the washroom, he turned on the shower, to drown out any noise and rested his head against the mirror. Why was this so hard all of a sudden? It was just same old Malia. Nothing had changed. Plus she hardly seemed affected by their close proximity like he was. “You’re probably just being an idiot. Get your shit together, Stilinski,” he muttered to himself and pushed himself off the mirror and into the shower.

 ---

“Stiles, stop it.”

“Stop what?” 

“Your heart is beating like crazy. You’re literally giving us away. Scott will hear you.”

Stiles wiped his hands on his pants. "I’m nervous. You know I’m nervous. God I can’t do this. Let’s just go back before they hear us." 

Malia heard faint footsteps coming from inside the house. Too late. She walked closer to Stiles, quickly pinning him with his back to the jeep. She clenched his shirt in her fists, pulling him near, causing Stiles’s heart to pick up speed.

"What are you doing?” He sounded slightly panicked. 

“Put your hands on my hips. No not resting, around the back. Make it like you want me.” Malia whisper urgently and moved his hands to her back, so they were standing chest to chest, their faces inches from each other.  

Stiles stood there unblinking. Make it like what?

“Would you guys like a room or are you comfortable where you are?” A female voice drifted out towards them. They both turned quickly towards the person. A girl with red hair stood on the porch leaning against the rail with a teasing smile.

“Uh,” Stiles said unintelligently looking between Lydia and Malia.

“I’ll leave you to it then. Door’s unlocked.” Lydia turned around and went back in. 

“Phew,” Malia slowly let go of Stiles and smoothed down his shirt where it had bunched up, and to give her some time to calm her own heart. Not the best of covers but it did the trick. Stiles was starting to relax either way.

“I didn’t mean practice now.” Malia gave him a look that said ‘I-just-saved-your-ass-now-stop-being-an-idiot’. “I mean, thanks.” He said softly looking at Malia as his hands slowly moved from her back to her waist, to give some room between them.

Malia pursed her lips and nodded in the direction of the door. 

“Lydia?" 

"Lydia. Ready?" Malia took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. She looked up and nodded at him. Stiles slid his handsoff Malia’s hips and took her hand in his. "Okay. Let’s go,” He ran a hand through his hair, in a nervous gesture as they walked in together.

She laced her fingers in his. For show of course.  

\---

Everyone looked up from watching the movie playing and grinned as they entered the living room. It seemed like they had heard Lydia’s side of the conversation and made the appropriate assumption and Stiles’s messed up hair seemed to further suggest this. The pack were spread out on the couch and floor. A boy with black hair, tanned skin and a warm smile came over almost immediately. 

“Hey Malia right? I’m Scott. Great to finally meet you. I see Stiles was lying when he said yo-" Stiles not so subtly stepped on Scott’s bare foot. Scott’s face scrunched up a bit, "Dude!" 

Malia grinned ignoring the exchange for the most part. She could only imagine what bullshit Stiles had mentioned about her. Probably called her the devil a couple times. "Hey Scott. Stiles has mentioned you so much, I feel like I know you already.” Malia smiled in return. 

"Come in,“ Scott moved aside and quickly made introductions for the rest of the pack. Malia nodded and waved awkwardly in greeting, taking a seat on the carpet beside Stiles, their legs overlapping each other, and listened to the chatter around her. This almost wasn’t that bad. Stiles’ friends were a lively bunch and in no time were talking over each other and yelling at the screen. Malia forgot to be self conscious after that.

Two movies later, Malia went to help Lydia get dinner ready for everyone. Plus she was slightly curious about the girl that Stiles had loved from afar for so long. She found out that Lydia was super easy to talk to, and settled in idle chatter.

\---

Stiles observed them from across the room. "What are Malia and Lydia talking about?”

Scott looked up. “You want me to listen to their conversation?” At Stiles’ 'obviously' look, Scott shook his head, “I’m not going to eavesdrop. That’s rude.”

“Can we please drop your morals by the door for once?”

“Are you insecure about you relation-”

“What’s the point of having super powers, if not to use them to help out your best bud, huh?”

Scott relented with a sigh, “School. Their talking about school. Same classes or something.”

“Why?”

“I doubt you’re actually expecting an answer for that one.”

Stiles stared at the girls, “Well, I don’t like it.”

Scott smiled in response. He decided to have some fun with his friend. “They're also discussing a hot professor they’d both like to do” Scott said under his breath. “Possibly together.”

Stiles dropped his feet that were resting on the table on the floor, “They what?!” he yelled. Everyone in the room looked at him. He laughed nervously, “Favourite pizza place is closing down.”

Malia looked over at Stiles’s red face and tried to hide her smile behind her hand. He was such an awkward liar.

Lydia looked at her, “So, you and Stiles?”

“Yeah,” Malia said but didn’t offer more. Besides she didn’t have to unsay something she’d never voiced out.

“I can’t imagine to be completely honest. You guys seem so different.”

Well, people didn’t call Lydia smart for nothing. “I guess… but Stiles and I were roommates for a while, so we’re used to being around each other.” Malia smiled shaking her head, “You know sometimes I say things or do things and I wonder if I’ve always been this way, or its something I’ve picked up from Stiles. I honestly can’t tell the difference anymore.” She looked over to where Stiles and Scott were talking, “But I don’t care to.”

“He seems happy.” Lydia smiled. “He’s definitely changed from how he was in high school. Always over excited, and sometimes…intense.”

Malia cocked her head to the side. “Intense how?”

“In general I suppose. He’s more calmer now. Collected. Confident even.”

“You should tell him that. I’m sure he’d love to hear that from you.”

Lydia looked thoughtful, “I don’t think so… There was a time when Stiles wanted my approval on things, but I don’t sense that anymore,” Lydia picked up the plates and handed some to Malia to give out, “Not now, when he has you.” She flashed Malia a brilliant smile and the girl couldn’t help but understand Stiles’s crush on Lydia. Hell.  _She_ was crushing on Lydia.

Malia smiled at the thought and started handing out the food. When she got close to Stiles, he grabbed her elbow gently and pulled her close, “What are you doing?” he said.

“Checking,” Malia said and Stiles eyebrows furrowed in confusion, “her shampoo’s changed. Peaches and wild berries if you’re wondering,” Malia easily deflected his kick, sitting on Scott’s other side and away from Stiles’s limbs.

“You told Malia what Lydia’s  _shampoo_ was?” Scott cocked an eyebrow at Stiles, clearly judging him.

Stiles ears turned bright red, “I was drunk okay! Besides, that was before..” he gestured to Malia. Scott and Malia started guffawing at Stiles and he got up with a huff about ‘finding some new fucking friends’.

\---

Stiles stomped over to where Kira was sitting with Liam and Mason. “Ever had an instance where your best friend and girlfriend were ganging up on you”

“Yup! All the time..” Liam answered glaring at Mason.

“Hey, It’s not _my_  fault that Hayden and I get along so well.” Mason shrugged

“Kind of,” Kira replied, “I’ve had my boyfriend and  _his_  best friend judge me and my actions,” Kira pointedly looked at Stiles.

“What? Me? When?” Stiles frowned

“Not important.” Kira said airly and shrugged, “It's all in the past…or is it?” she added mysteriously. Stiles gaped at her and then rolled his eyes, listening to them discuss Mason’s recent love interest.

\---

A couple spaces away, Scott was asking Malia a couple questions about werecoyotes and discussing the differences and similarities between other creatures. “I mean, have you ever met another coyote before?” Scott asked

“Well, I know my birth mother might have been one but I decided I didn’t want to find her. It might have been useful to know firsthand what I could do, but my adoptive mother  _was_  my mom. I didn’t really feel right finding a replacement after she died.”

“Oh. Sorry to hear that,” Scott said softly.

“It was a while ago. I’m not really close to my birth father. I do see him occasionally for full moons and such.”

“Speaking of full moons, since you’re here, would you maybe be interested in running with us this month?” Scott looked eagerly at Malia. She was shocked to say the least. Running with a pack she wasn’t a part of? Scott seemed to sense the shift in mood, “Well, your dating Stiles and I know as an omega you must feel vulnerable. Plus, Stiles will be there, so the transition should be easier this time.”

“What do you mean?” Malia frowned.

“Well, your with Stiles. I imagine it was hard to be with him but hide your secret before. And not just that. Were-creatures feel a pull to be closer to their mate especially on the full moon. On a time that they are most like their true selves. Haven’t you ever felt that? A longing…like something is amiss?”

Malia wrapped her arms around her legs, absorbing what Scott had said. She looked at Stiles. Had her _were_  everidentified Stiles as her mate? She couldn’t recall a time when she hadn’t felt the ache he was talking about and it had just become a part of her transitioning. So no, meeting Stiles hadn't changed that. _Liking_ Stiles still hadn't changed that. She quickly looked at Scott, wondering if he was expecting an answer. He was smiling at her with an emotion she couldn’t quite read.

“It’s okay. I only found out about the-" he gestured to his heart, "myself with Kira. When I was with Allison, we were never together for the run,“ Scott looked down at his hands, "She was human, so I thought I was keeping her safe, even though she was more than capable of handling herself around me. But I always felt the ache, you know? It wasn’t until I ran with Kira the first time, that I even realized that some invisible weight had lifted off me.”

There was a pause in the conversation as they both got lost in their own thoughts.

“I guess it would be nice,” Malia said so softly that if Scott didn’t have sensitive hearing he would have missed it, “to run with a pack for once…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I enjoyed writing the interaction between the pack members among themselves and with Malia, and exploring what kind of dynamic they might share. Though I enjoy writing scenes with sheriff and stalia too. Hope you enjoyed reading it :)


	3. Unfold Me

Malia came into the living room. The sheriff looked up from trying to wake up Stiles, “He sleeps like the dead,” he said apologetically.

“Oh I know.” Malia rolled her eyes. “Every time we have a fire alarm I risk getting injured because Sties flails so much while he sleeps, before he wakes up, after he wakes up…” She trailed off looking down at Stiles who was sleeping with his mouth hanging open.  _So_   _attractive_. “I’ll take it from here; I’ve got loads of practice.” Malia leaned forward and shook Stiles by his shoulder, “Stiles? Stiles come on wake up. It’s past 10 already. Stiles wake up!!” Malia shook him a little rougher.

Stiles turned towards the back of the couch. “No!” he mumbled as he swung his hand back in a ‘go away’ manner except it connected nicely with Malia’s cheek. Malia froze in shock. Had he just _slapped_ her?!

“ _STI_ LES!”

Stiles shot up on the couch and tumbled down on the floor when his feet got tangled in the sheets. He looked up and cowered instantly when Malia growled at him and stormed off. Stiles turned bewildered to the only other person in the room. Sheriff Stilinski was red in the face as he shook with silent laughter. “What was that?” Stiles nodded in the direction Malia had gone but his dad just shook his head wiping tears from his eyes. The sheriff manage to calm down enough to suggest Stiles join Malia to assist her with whatever needed help with, before heading out to work.

\---

After freshening up, Stiles took to the stairs and went to the kitchen, were he froze. Malia was wearing a magenta halter top and shorts with an apron on top, but from where he was standing it looked like she was only wearing an apron. This was starting to feel like the beginnings of a porn video he’d seen once.

Malia looked up from examining measuring spoons on the counter and frowned, “You smell weird,”

Stiles walked in opening the fridge door. “Good morning to you too,” he yawned while pouring himself some coffee. “Whatcha doing?” he pointed towards the stuff she had laid out on the counter.

“Baking. And your helping me,” Malia clicked on the laptop that was sitting on the opposite counter and browsed for her desired recipe. Her phone beeped and Malia picked it up, laughing at the text she received. At Stiles’ raised eyebrow she answered, “Lydia.” Malia typed back an answer and sent it. “We’ve been chatting since the lake house”

“What? How?”

“She gave me her number,” Malia looked at Stiles like he was an idiot

“I meant how did you guys get close enough after one night?”

“Well…Hey no eating the chocolate chips! They’re for the cookies.” Malia slapped his hand away in warning. 

Stiles finally made eye contact with her. “Could you wear some pants please? It looks like your just wearing an apron and it’s weird an-”

“If you say a word about it being distracting Stiles, I’ll throw you out of your own house, ” 

“Uhh..” He saw the look she gave him, “Oh, you’re serious. Okay. It’s cool. Totally…totally cool. I’m fine, your fine…we’re all fine” he finished awkwardly. Malia rolled her eyes with a smile. It was starting to become a habit. A reaction to Stiles habit.  “So..how exactly can I help?”

“Could you start in making the whipping cream?”

“Oh we have whipped cream. I’m pretty sure..” Stiles went over to the fridge and searched around, finding a can. 

“We’re making it.”

“Why when we have it already?” Malia growled low at him in displeasure. “Home-made it is" 

Malia shook her head chuckling, “You’re too easy Stiles. If we were actually dating, I would win  _all_ the time.” Stiles made a face because what she said was true. But who wanted to argue with those set of teeth really?  

“Hmph” Stiles pouted eyeing the ingredients in front of him and got an idea. He turned around to make sure Malia’s back was turned to him before grabbing the bowl of carefully measured flour and threw a handful at her.

Malia’s jaw dropped. “You did _not_ just!" Stiles laughing grabbed the bowl and dumped the entire thing on her head, "STILES!” Stiles ran to the other side of the island as Malia grabbed the can of whipping cream and chased him around the kitchen.

 She caught him by his collar and sprayed the can under his shirt. “Ow! Cold!!” Stiles shook off her hold, but not before she pressed the front of his shirt smearing the cream onto his chest. He grabbed the chocolate syrup and waved it wildly in her direction. Malia took a handful of chocolate chips and threw them at Stiles in retaliation. He groped around and grabbed the first moist thing his hand fell on at the same time Malia lost her balance and grabbed Stiles’ hand.  He tried to help her, but ended up falling as well.

“Ugh! Oh my God my back!” Malia groaned as Stiles landed on top of her.

“Happy Birthday” Stiles said gleefully before smearing his handful of butter on her face. Malia groaned again, pushing him off her. She wiped the butter from her face and lay next to him on the tiled floor out of breath _._ By the end of it, collectively, they were covered in chocolate syrup, flour, cream, eggs and pretty much anything else they had gotten their hands on.

“So? Still want to bake?” Stiles panted and Malia cracked up.

“Oh hell no! We should probably clean up though,” Malia got up and helped Stiles, gingerly walking around the kitchen cleaning their mess for most of their morning before washing up.

\---

Malia came into the living room where Stiles was seated and nudged him to the side so she could sit. “I scrubbed as much as I could, but I still smell syrupy,” she wrinkled her nose.

“I’ve never been happier to not have sensitive smell than right now,” Stiles laughed and they settled down.

“So what’s it like?” Stiles asked softly, his cheek pressed against the sofa cushions. “Being a coyote?” he clarified. 

Malia leaned back thinking, “It’s freeing I guess. I was born like this and it has always been a part of me, so I don’t know any different.” Malia slid down and mirrored Stiles’s position on the opposite side, pushing her legs under his in the middle. “My coyote form was triggered when I was seven. My mum and little sister died in the crash and had I been normal, I probably would have too.”

Stiles reached over and laced his fingers in her open palm in a comforting squeeze. Malia squeezed back in return. She needed the contact, he could tell. He could always tell. 

This was what it was like with them.  It was really hard acting like they were a couple without having any point of reference since they both lacked in actual experience. And he missed it. He missed the ease in how they could just be themselves when they were alone. It was so nice to lay here holding her hand as their legs twined, and not having to think ‘is this enough?’ or ‘will people believe?’ “I miss this,” he said aloud.

Malia didn’t have to ask what he meant. “Me too,” she gently let go of his hand and curled it under her cheek resting in the pillow. Stiles closed his eyes briefly. When he heard his name being called they fluttered open again. “Why me?”

Stiles sighed knowing the question was bound to come up at some point. He’d spent enough time wondering the same thing. “My dad once said, ‘son, it takes a special brand of person to deal with all your crap and still want to be around you at the end of the day.’ I can count on one hand how many people in my life, are like that with me.” Stiles looked from his closed fist to Malia. “Thing is, after talking with you, I called Scott to let him know when I would be in town, and that I was bringing my girlfriend as a heads up. I don’t know how, but Scott immediately said, ‘cool! I get to finally meet the mysterious Malia!’, even before I could mention you. So…” 

“You must have said something in the past that gave the impression we were together,” Malia finished nodding. “And if Scott got that impression, Lydia probably did too, to some degree.”

“That’s probably why she suggested me bring you,”

“You have good taste by the way. I mean with Lydia. She’s gorgeous.” 

“Did you ever doubt my taste in things?”

“Try all the time! Your taste in music is horrendous.”

“Is it now?” Stiles scooted quickly over her side and began tickling her.

Malia jerked away, “No Stiles, stop. Please stop. Don’t make me use my- Oh my God! S-stiles I’m going to kill you! Stop!! ” Malia frantically tried to get away without hurting him. Finally he let go of her smirking. Malia leaned away trying to catch her breath. “You. Do that again-” Malia cut off as Stiles started tickling her again. “Oh my god! Stiles, seriously stop.” Malia squeaked. “Please, please stop.”

“Well since you asked so sweetly.” Stiles let go of her. Malia immediately got out of his reach, hair messy, face flushed and was breathing heavily. She turned to glower at her roommate.

Stiles stood there with a wicked grin on his face.  “You look like we’ve just had a wild make out session. Seriously, this would be the perfect time for my dad to walk in, considering his doubt that we’re dating. And it looks like we got very physical. Well you do at least.”

“And how is that fair?” Malia grinned evilly wiggling her fingers at him.  

“I don’t like where this is going” Stiles edged away from her but didn’t get far. Malia tackled him onto the floor and descended on him, tickling his sides with one hand, and she held him down with the other. He doubled over trying and failing to protect himself from her strength. This is what he got for teasing a supernatural girl a voice in the back of his head said.

Stiles started laughing uncontrollably, tears in his eyes, as he tried to push her hands away when it was clear that _he_  couldn’t get away.  She continued to tickle him until he was gasping, “I yield! I yield! Oh come on Malia, please!” Malia pinned him down with both hands leaning over him looking very predatory and smiling gleefully.

Stiles looked up at her and swallowed slightly. Malia hadn’t moved away, still basking in her victory as her hands pressed his wrists to the carpet. It occurred to her belatedly how suggestive this probably looked. Maybe a joke was in order?

Someone cleared their throat nearby. Malia and Stiles looked up from their position on the floor and then scrambled to get off each other, looking very much like the guilty party. The sheriff stood there red in the face and shook his head like he was trying to erase what he had seen while walking away.  

“Shiiiiit!” Stiles ran after his dad not really knowing what excuse he was going to give, just that he hadto say  _something_.

The Sheriff turned around before Stiles could open his mouth, and said, “I’m just going to pretend you were playing cops and robbers and leave it at that.” Stiles’ already flushed face, coloured and he turned to Malia embarrassed. 

“Why does this keep happening?” Malia mumbled into her hands. 

“Hey you forget _I_  was the one on the floor in a compromising position.”

Malia laughed at his disgruntled expression. “Come on. I think we’ve scarred your dad enough. Let’s get ready for the party.”

Stiles stood there for a minute. It was funny that his dad assumed he was getting all this action when he had the worst case if blue balls ever. This was pure torture. 

\---

By the time Stiles had gotten changed in his washroom, the door to his room was open. Malia was standing in front of the mirror back facing him, wearing a printed cream peter pan collar dress. Stiles walked in without a word, zipped the back of her dress and hooked the top. Malia looked at him through the mirror. “What do you think?”

“You look great,” he said, chin resting lightly on her shoulder. “I’ve never seen you in a dress before. You should only ever wear this.”

Malia dimpled, “I bought it recently and thought I’d wear it for today. What are you wearing?” She turned around in a tight circle to look at him. Stiles had on a black button down, the top three buttons undone and his collar still up. His hands were in his dark blue jeans, the shirt sleeves rolled up and he was watching her intently, “So? How do I look?” He was still standing fairly close to her, so much so that she could feel his body warmth. 

“I-Uh-You look-” Malia eyes roamed to the expanse of shoulder in front of her. Stiles’ shirt fit him really well, defining the muscles that he usually hid behind his layered shirts. The words ‘delectable’ and 'mouth-watering’ jumped into her mind and she struggled to view him with an objective eye. “You-” she looked up at him. Because of her height she was only a few inches shorter, so just a slight tilt and she was staring into his eyes, which she noticed were wandering around her face.

She parted her lips in a third attempt to utter a compliment, when Stiles leaned down and closed the space between them, a gentle kiss pressed against her lips.

His eyes fluttered shut as his hands itched to hold her. He’d wanted to kiss her all day. After their food fight, their tickling game or even before his dad had walked in on them. Stiles was proud of his self-control and that he’d lasted so long, but his thread had finally run out on him. She didn’t just look great, she looked gorgeous.  

It took him a second to realize what he was doing. Even though he didn’t want to, he slowly moved his face away, eyes still closed and heart pounding in his chest, he was sure she could feel it. His lips hovered in front of hers and he bit his lip slightly. 

As his nose gently nudged hers, in the space between them, he felt a hand cupping the back of his neck pulling him close, soft lips descending on his. Stiles’ hands immediately flew to her waist. He gently caressed Malia’s cheek and carded his fingers through her hair, losing himself to the sensation, mind blank as she kissed him back. 

The kiss itself was sweet in nature, gentle, soft and perfect by first kiss standards. Time just seemed to slow down, for them. Stiles tugged her closer still, feeling her curl her fingers into his hair. He felt as though he was pouring all of his want into this one kiss, like it was their last and there was an irrational part of his brain, that never wanted to let her go. It was partially surprising that the soft intensity was being mirrored by Malia. He would never had known she felt this way about him, if they were not currently caught in this intimate moment together. 

Malia was the first one to break away, slowly uncurling her hands from gripping his shirt by the waist, she leaned her forehead on his and they stayed like that for a while, not saying anything. She had wanted this for so long, she couldn’t believe this was actually happening. Her heart was hammering in her chest and they stood there and sort of just looked at one another.

Stiles stepping back, licked his lips and scratched the back of his head nervously, “Uh, you ready?”

Malia nodded, “I’ll be there a minute,” she answered softly.

“I’ll-I’ll start the jeep,” he pointed vaguely towards the driveway, and made his way to the stairs. Malia leaned against the wall hand over her heart and gingerly touched her lips. What just happened? 

She looked up to see Stiles standing by the railing looking at her like he didn’t want to leave, but then turned around and was gone.  “What?” Malia whispered dazed.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my Lovelies! I hope you enjoyed this jam packed chapter full of Stalia shenanigans and hope you liked the ending ;) This is one of my favourite chapters that I have written. In fact, I liked it so much, I even made an illustration based off it. If I ever get the hang of Ao3, I’ll link it :)


	4. Somewhere to Begin

They drove in silence to the lake house, each busy with their thoughts. Once reaching the place, Stiles went to make his way up the path, when he felt Malia grab his arm. She reached up to wipe his bottom lip with her thumb, “You had a bit of lipstick on there,” she said in a way of explaining, as she deftly straightened his collar. “There, you look great.”

They stood there for a moment and Malia slowly brought her hands down from resting on his shoulders. Stiles looked up at the house and back to Malia, “Just a couple more days, okay?”

Malia took in the boy in front of her and saw a vulnerability about him in this moment. It was starting to weigh on both of them how hard keeping up appearances had become, especially now, when they were just learning about one another on some deeper level than friendship. There was absolutely no illusion that this attraction was one-sided anymore. They needed time to sort out their feelings about what had transpired between them mere minutes ago, which was hard to do when they were pretending to be a happy couple in love. She could do this. She could do this for Stiles, “Just a couple more days,” she echoed.

Stiles kissed her forehead gently, in a silent thank you. He then took her hand in his walking to the door. Right before the door opened though, he turned to her and said, “I change my mind, don’t  _ever_  wear this dress again.” Malia couldn’t keep the smile off her face for the rest of the evening.

—–

As soon as they walked in that night Stiles and Malia sank into the couch gratefully. It was like a switch, when they were at Stiles’s house the pretending stopped, and the masks came off. Lying was exhausting. Stiles was already nodding off to sleep, when Malia poked him, jerking him back to wakefulness. “I was still talking,” she chided.

Stiles pinched the bridge of his nose tiredly, “m'sorry Lia, what were you saying?”

“Scott keeps scenting me Stiles, like he can’t quite put his finger on something. Do you think he knows?” Stiles looked at the worried expression on her face.

“I don’t think so,” he frowned, “I feel like if he really suspected something, he’d have mentioned it to me by now. Maybe it’s some sort of True Alpha thing?” he suggested, fighting to keep his eyes open.

Malia saw this and took pity on him, “Okay. Come on, let’s go to bed.” Malia tugged Stiles up from the sofa to the bedroom, and he followed like he was on auto pilot. In the room, he helped her with a zipper again, and swiftly changed in the washroom. Malia had turned the lamp on and was standing by the bed fiddling with the hem of her shirt when he came in to grab his pillow.

“Good night,” Stiles said and turned around to go downstairs when Malia stopped him.

“Maybe we can give this sharing the bed another go?”

“Uh like sleep together? Will we fit?” Malia raised one eyebrow, “I just meant…”

“Do you _want_ to continue sleeping on the couch?” She looked at the size of the bed. “Maybe if we slept on the sides, it would be fine. Give it a try?”

Stiles rubbed the back of his neck, making up his mind and joined her when Malia slipped under the duvet. She shoved her feet under his, “Stay on your side, Lia. Your feet are freezing!” Stiles grumbled into his pillow.

“Suck it up. You’re like a furnace” Malia rolled her eyes moving her feet anyway.

“Bossy.” Malia stuck her legs under him again in retaliation. “Ma _lia_!” Stiles yelped, tugging on the blankets on his side.

Malia grinned, settling down she faced him, biting her lip slightly, “Is this weird?” she whispered.

“Not really,” Stiles whispered back, eyes drooping. Within seconds he was fast asleep.

Malia looked at him for a moment, smiling softly, “Good.”

\---

The weekend marked a week since Malia had come to Beacon Hills. She woke up in the morning, to find that one, they both were still safely in bed, and two, they were spooning. Malia slowly took her arm off Stiles’ waist and eased out of bed so not to wake him up. It was nearing eight o'clock so she dressed quietly in comfortable shorts and a t-shirt and tip toed downstairs. It was Sunday and the sheriff had mentioned that he was starting work a little later that day. Malia opened the door and closed it just as softly. She waited outside checking the two steady heartbeats in the silent house, and then slipped of down the street at a jog.

Her feet naturally took her to an apartment just shy of the town and she stood gazing up at the building, before climbing ten stories. Predictably, the door was unlocked and Malia let herself in toeing her shoes of and grabbing a glass of water. The room was currently occupied by one other person. “You _do_  know the building has an elevator, right?” Clear blue eyes regarded her, “You’re a whole week and a half early. Don’t tell me you had a sudden warm urge to spent time with your father?” Peter drawled.

“Do you even go to your own apartment? You’re always here,” Malia set her glass down. “We need to talk.” Peter didn’t reply, so Malia continued, “I won’t be running with you this full moon. I can arrange to meet with you on another time, but I have alternative plans this time round.” Malia spoke firmly as Peter walked forward scenting the air.

“You smell of pack,” he spat out the last word like it was poison. His nostrils flared and he growled with displeasure, “Scott McCall’s pack.”

Malia folded her arms across her chest, her face, a perfect mask. She had after all learned from the best. Not like that was a badge of honour by any means. Peter saw emotions as weakness, and yet he wondered why they had never developed a deeper connection. “They’re just my friends so not pack yet. This is all I came to tell you. That I won’t be running with you. I’ll see you before I leave. Good bye Peter.” She abruptly turned around heading for the door when his voice stopped her. 

“What do you think will happen when your _friends_  find out that you are my daughter?” Malia turned around slowly. Peter smirked, “They won’t trust you anymore and you know that. That is why you haven’t told them you are a Hale.”

“I am a Tate.” Despite maintaining an even voice, her eyes flashed blue.

“Not what your birth certificate says,” Peter tutted. “What will the True Alpha do when he finds out the reason you know of his existence is because I told you? Do you believe for a minute that they won’t think you used their token of _friendship_  to manipulate your way into their pack?” With every sentence Peter moved closer, articulating each word slowly as to not mistake his threat as anything else than what it was, agitating Malia in the process. He wouldn’t. Peter broke into a smile that would look charming, if the wearer wasn’t Peter, “What would  _Stiles_  think?”

That comment hit a nerve and Peter knew it. Malia was breathing heavier and her claws were out defensively. “If you hurt him…” The look she gave him, almost made Peter’s chest swell with pride. His daughter looked positively murderous.

“Isn’t it strange that the boy who trusts you, you didn’t trust enough to confide in about your parentage?  How you feel the need to keep this secret, despite you being so  _close_? If you don’t want your  _friends_  to find out, you’ll meet me here on the night of the full moon, like we agreed.  Are we clear?”

 

Malia hated this. She hated having to owe Peter this way. She was an adult now and it wasn’t right how he kept instilling this fear within her. Seeing him twelve times per year had been a blessing until now. She wanted pack so badly. She wanted life-long friends and here she had the chance for both, and her own  _blood_  was standing in her way. “If you have an inch of love for me, you won’t dare say a word. I  _am_  going on the run with the McCall pack, whether you like it or not.” Malia turned on her heel and left the apartment slamming the door, fully knowing that with Peter’s super hearing, his ears would be ringing for a while.

She ran the rest of the way, cutting through the dense trees and breathing the chill air of the morning. The familiar scent of the woods helped calm her down a bit and her head cleared by the time she reached the Stilinski household. It was only a little past nine and to her relief, the house was still sleeping.

She padded softly to the kitchen and started making pancakes, partly because she was hungry and partly because she needed to keep busy.  Would Peter really try to sabotage what she had with her new friends? Maybe she should call Derek? As she mused in silence, the Sheriff came down, ready for work. He accepted the coffee she’d made and happily busied himself in wolfing down the hot pancake she placed in front of him.  

Malia heard Stiles walk in a few minutes later.  She turned around when she felt an arm sling across her shoulder, to Stiles who was grinning, “Pancakes in the morning, now you’re just spoiling me.”

“Good morning to you too!” Malia handed him a plate and joined him at the table.

“So what are you kids up to today?”

Malia shrugged saying in a way that she was up for anything, “I was thinking of maybe taking Malia into town, for ice cream?” Stiles looked at her raising his eyebrows silently asking if that was okay. Malia’s face brightened so he took that as a good sign.

The sheriff pushed his chair back, “Good. Okay I’m off. Thank you for the breakfast, Malia. ”

\---

Stiles took Malia past his old high school and shared numerous stories and memories of the place with her before going to a cute ice cream parlour. “Rocky Road, right?” He asked as he reached in his pocket for his wallet. Malia looked at him surprised. Stiles saw her expression, “I..well one time I guess you were craving it? You bought a tub and finished it the same night. I know because I wanted some the next day, and it was gone.” 

Malia groaned, "That was the night I was supposed to hang out with Andy, but she tricked me and set me up on a date with a guy from one of my classes. It was horrible.” Stiles raised his eyebrows in an ‘oh really’ manner.  Malia shook her head at the memory, “I used to get my notes from him when I missed a class, because he made as good of notes as me. I knew he was attracted to me because of the whole…” she indicated being a werecoyote, “…and after the date it became super awkward. I had to finally find a different notes partner after that.”

They got to the front and Stiles paid for two Rocky Road double scoop ice creams even though Malia held out the money for her share. “My treat,” Stiles smiled warmly, holding the cone out to her, “now take it before it melts in my hand.”  

Was this a date? Malia thought looking at Stiles as she accepted the cone from him and picked a corner booth out of earshot from other patrons.  They sat close to each other in the dim lighting and enjoyed the ice creams in companionable silence. This definitely felt like a date, Malia concluded as they played footsie under the table and chatted idly. “You know, I was sure that we’d be bored of each other by now,” Malia finally ventured aloud, “I don’t think we’ve been around each other during vacation time, but it’s been fun so far.”

Stiles laughed, “You’re right. For me I guess, just because we lived together, I didn’t want to subject you to hanging out with me longer than was necessary. ”

Malia leaned forward resting her elbow on the table, "And _I_ was keeping the whole werecoyote thing secret. It would have been helpful to know you knew about supernatural creatures all along…” she grumbled.    

“Well, you know now,” Stiles said with fondness. Malia found him smiling softly at her, his thumb caressing her fingers gently. He didn’t seem aware of the openness in his expression, or gestures. Somewhere between Stiles’s look and his idle fingers running over the bumps of Malia’s knuckles, the dam holding Malia’s controlled emotions, broke, and she leaned forward cupping his face in her hands, kissing him with feeling. Stiles tasted of chocolate, and marshmallows.  Her hand gripped the front of his shirt pulling him closer, as her other hand raked through his hair. Stiles moaned into the kiss, hands brushing her arms, shoulders and waist and back, like he couldn’t decide where to keep them. “Malia, we’re in pub-”

“Shut up,” she got in quickly. Malia didn’t care how much PDA they were showing and probably being a public disturbance. She didn’t care if anyone thought of how unladylike she was being. Stiles had this ability to make her lose all her rationale and all he had to do was look at her in that tender manner. Having liked Stiles for a long time, and finally getting to have him, felt so good. Stiles gave up, letting her control the kiss, and enjoying the ride. Their actions got less frantic and moved to a slower but still deep kiss. It was a while before they broke apart, completely out of breath. Stiles eyes were blown wide, and his face was flushed. She assumed she didn’t look any better.  

They really weren’t big on words, Malia was coming to realize. They relied on touch to convey how they felt. Even now, Stiles was running his hand up and down her side in a calming way. He reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, caressing her cheek, and slowly pulling her in for a kiss so sweet, her legs felt like jelly.  After their sexually charged kiss, this felt so different. She felt so wanted, and Stiles, he held her gently, like she was a delicate porcelain doll. This kiss was so reminiscent of their first, unhurried, like they had all the time in the world.  

Oh hell. Who needed to breathe anyway?

\---

Stiles took her to the town cinema after and they watched a too many explosions, plus cheesy dialogue movie while stuffing their faces with popcorn. By the time the movie ended, it was dark outside and the streets were illuminated by the glow from the street lamps. Stiles crossed the street and Malia looked up at the place they seemed to be heading and stopped, “Where are we going?”

“Come on. It’ll be fun, I promise.” 

“Stiles, I’m not dressed appropriately for this.” Malia gestured to her attire that consisted of black shorts and an aqua blue cotton shirt and sneakers.

“You look great, its fine” Stiles tugged her hand and she followed him hesitantly. As soon as they entered, the music overwhelmed Malia’s hearing. He led her to a slightly secluded place where there wasn’t much of a crowd. The lights were dimmed down in the cozy pub and ‘ _Dancing in the Moonlight_ ’ was playing.

Stiles put one hand on her waist, bringing her closer to him and took her other hand in his. Malia gaped at him. This boy kept surprising her. “I didn’t know you danced.”

Stiles smiled, “My mom used to teach me the basics of the box step, after her beginner’s ballroom lessons. I took up a class for a short while, because it kept her memory close. I can’t dance normally for the life of me, but this, I can do.”

Stiles was an excellent lead as Malia soon learned. She watched her feet, careful not to step on his, until she was confident enough to look up without tripping. “It wasn’t just ice cream you brought me to town for, was it?” It wasn’t really a question but Stiles’s grin confirmed her suspicions. He spun her around before guiding her back into the rhythm of the steps patiently. Back right, slide, front left, slide and repeat. Malia rested her head on his shoulder after a while, closing her eyes and Stiles wrapped his arms around her back, rocking them back and forth slowly. Even when the music tempo picked up into a faster song, they continued to dancing the way they were.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello my Lovelies!! If I killed you with too much sweetness, I am deeply sorry. I have been writing somewhat in Stiles’ perspective so I thought I’d switch it up this chapter. Dancing in the Moonlight is by Toploader if any of you are curious and a wonderful song for the box step ;) Hope you enjoyed Stiles and Malia’s date as much as I did writing it! Much love  
> ~Nenz


	5. The Rewind Button

“Aha! Told you I was good!” Malia crowed as her video game character whipped out her hair and used it like a lasso to sweep her opponent off their feet.

“How did you  _do_  that?”

“I just jabbed a bunch of buttons!” Malia threw her controller down and did a happy dance while sitting as Stiles stared at the K.O. flashing on the screen.

“You’ve  _definitely_ played this game before!” he insisted as Malia continued her celebratory dance. Stiles cracked his shoulder and threw the controller back at her. “Again. We’re going again.”

“Come on, Stiles. We’ve played games almost all this week. Maybe you should…” Malia pointed at the phone buzzing beside Stiles’s foot, “…he’s been calling you, you know?”

Stiles picked up the phone and sighed, “I’m just trying to get this week over for us, since you’re staying for the full moon, which takes us past our two weeks.” Stiles watched as his phone lit up with Scott picture, “I don’t want to impose my friends on you longer than I need to.”

“Stiles,” Malia touched his hand gently, “I like your friends. They’re pretty cool,” she smiled at him warmly. “Besides, I don’t know how you say no to that puppy dog face of his, I certainly had a hard time trying to!” Malia shook her head amused.

Stiles laughed, “The thing is, I don’t even try now. I can lie my ass off when Scott’s not around, but as soon as that hopeful look is turned to me…” Stiles rubbed his face in his palms. “I just hope he doesn’t ask about Thanksgiving.  Then we’re really screwed you know?”

“Don’t say stuff like that aloud. Someone’ll hear you” Malia nudged him on the side. She picked fluff out of the carpet, “It was nice of him to invite me to come on the Run though, right? I know partially it’s because we’re dating, but still it’s a sweet gesture, you know?”

 Stiles glanced sideways at her at the mention of them ‘dating’, like it was the most true and natural thing in the world. Well, he _did_ take her on a date, and it was so much fun. But were they dating? He sat there contemplating this as he heard her next words, “… though of course he invited me before-” Malia turned her head to him unsure. She bit the inside of her bottom lip and side eyed him.

Stiles didn’t know how to respond to that. At the back of his head, he knew they would have to eventually talk about the change in their friendship status and how that was going to affect them moving forward, but he didn’t want to deal with that right now.  So he grabbed the first distraction his hands could find, “One more game?”

Malia nodded reluctantly like she knew what he was attempting to do and resigned herself to it. Stiles restarted the game but his heart wasn’t into it and easily lost one of his players, causing Malia to pause the game shortly after. “You’re not even trying.”

“Maybe you’re just that good.” Stiles countered. Malia put her controller down and crossed her arms. “What are you doing?” Stiles frowned at her.

Malia glowered at him. “This is your idea of bonding further, now play up!” She was cut off by a whirring sound of machinery and then everything including the TV, shut down. They looked at each other quizzically.

Stiles got up to turn on the screen manually, but the screen remained blank and so did the digital clock. An amused smirk crossed his face despite his hardest efforts to tamp it down.  He pursed his lips and turned to face her. “Nothing says true bonding, like a power outage Malia.”

“You’re joking.”

—

“Oh god!” Malia started fanning herself with the newspaper, despite Stiles telling her that it generally made people hotter than cool them down. Whatever. All she cared about was instant relief. Stiles rolled his eyes and got up from the couch. He came back a minute later with a miniature plastic stick with petals and a wind-up behind and handed it to her. “Is this a pencil sharpener?”

“And a fan,” Stiles grinned, taking it from her hand and winding it up. He held it in front of her face as cool air hit it, relaxing her features. “One time, the power went out for a couple days, so Scott and I went to the plaza by the corner, and bought these handy things. It was such an awesome time where we kicked back to doing anything non-technology related, that we kept the fans as a souvenirs. It still works thankfully.” He smiled as Malia wound the dial and turned it so it was facing him instead.

Malia twisted the object back around, “Why would they put a fan on a sharpener?”

“I choose not to question a good thing, when it happens,” Stiles grinned at Malia, “but if I were to guess, the makers foresaw a power outage happening and little Scott and Stiles being stifled-” Stiles ducked laughing, as Malia took a swipe at him. “Well, what did you expect me to say?!”

“I meant, why would they put toys on stationary? What’s the point? Stationary is meant to focus you on school and work, not play. This distracts you.”

Stiles sat up straighter, “You mean to tell me your dad never bought you colourful stationary for school before? Pencils with funny shaped erasers?”

Malia shrugged, “No. And I was home schooled”

“You-What?”

“Homeschool. After the accident triggered my transformation, I couldn’t really control my shift. It took dad a while to actually accept that I could turn into an animal, but he understood that underneath it all, I was still his daughter.”

“He didn’t want to send me to school after that though, in case I accidently transformed, you know? I had a tutor come to my place everyday. So I always had basic stationary, cause school work and play time are and should be two different things and I certainly didn’t need fancy stationary to enhance better learning” Malia said a matter of fact way.  

Stiles groaned carding his fingers through his hair and making it stand up. “This explains  _so_ much! I’ve never met anyone who is as oblivious to social cues, as you are!”

Malia rolled her eyes, “This better not be about the library incident.” Stiles’s huff answered that for her, “How was I supposed to know that crick in the neck was supposed to be the ‘come help me get out of this sticky situation’ nod?”

“Crick in the neck?!”

“Maybe if you didn’t flail sporadically, it would count as a signal.” Stiles opened his mouth to argue when he thought about it. Okay, she had a point. “And I saved you anyways,” she said smugly. “Was that the one with the ex? Leslie? Lauren?”

“Lisa.” Stiles mumbled nodding. “We’d hooked up at a house party, and yup, she had a boyfriend. Of course she did! Who’s a massive giant, by the way. She was having a hard time coming up with the where and how she knew me, and I was afraid someone would have to peel me off the hardwood floor, by the  _look_  he was giving me. You know like he knew I wasn’t just some  _friend_? So I kinda needed you there yesterday, instead of a couple seconds later.”

“You’re so dramatic. And you  _sounded_ fine.” Stiles turned to gape at her. Did she just? She saw the look of shock on his face, “Oh yeah, didn’t I mention? I was keeping tabs on you. But these kinds of situations build charac-” Malia cut off to move away quickly from Stiles who threw a playful swipe at her.

“So other that sucking at picking up social cues, anything else seem weird to you?” Stiles asked when they settled down again.

“Why is movie referencing a part of social culture? It’s like…someone says something, and then you’re just  _supposed_  to get the reference. There’s no explanation. Nothing!”

Stiles looked at the slight frown on her face. Could she be more adorable?  “Well, usually when someone is referencing a movie, you don’t have to explain the entire situation because it’s so similar to something that happened in the movie.” Malia looked completely lost. “Okay, say I’m the only human of my group of mutant friends. So that’s like saying-”

“All your friends have supernatural abilities.” Malia nodded in understanding.

Stiles looked at her delighted, “You’ve seen X-Men?”

“I was home schooled. Not abducted by aliens.” Malia said exasperated. “Besides, it was fun watching something about kids struggling with special powers when growing up, especially when I knew I wasn’t normal.”

“You’re totally normal.” Stiles shared a smile with her, which she returned.

Malia picked up the phone and handed it to Stiles, “Call him.” Then she got up and walked out of the living room, as Stiles spoke to Scott.

—

“What’s up?”

“Bonfire sleepover or something,” Stiles said walking into his room tossing the phone on his bed. “We’re going to put up tents, and pretend we’re camping, because that’s so much fun.” He said sarcastically making Malia laugh but send a hopeful look his way.

“You  _want_ to go?”  Stiles looked at the little pack Malia had brought out while he talked, and sighed “Of course you want to go.”

Malia held him by the elbow drawing him nearer. “It’s the pull of the Moon, Stiles. It makes us want to be closer to nature. That’s probably why Scott’s hosting this event. He probably hosts it all the time, you’re just away so this is your first time. And the power outage has persisted, so what better way to not use up all the candles?”  

Stiles made the biggest mistake by looking at her. Sheesh. He didn’t think anyone rivaled Scott’s puppy dog look, and yet he found one staring at him. He looked closely at the bed and pointed to the full backpack on the bed, “And when were you planning on mentioning that you packed my stuff already?”

—

Scott and Malia were sitting together, leaning against an old tree trunk, Scott quietly gazing out at the stretch of wood in front of him for some time. Malia was put in charge of the group’s water supply and was filling the flasks when Scott came by and joined her. Although he lent a hand, Malia sensed this visit had a purpose. “What is it?”

“I hope this doesn’t sound rude but there’s something about you that’s so familiar, I can’t put my finger on it. I was wondering if you could help me out.” He said looking at her.

“I’m not sure what to tell you, Scott. I only met you recently. How would I be familiar to you?” Malia said puzzled. So this was why Scott had been scenting her lately?

Scott sighed, “Another on a long list of I have no clue. I thought that maybe you knew something I didn’t.” He looked down at his hands.

“There’s something else bothering you?”

Scott smiled at Malia. She was a very perceptive person. “Yeah actually. It’s not so much bothersome, as it is curiosity and I’m probably overstepping here, but I read that coyotes mate for life. I guess I was wondering-?”

“If you’re trying to ask me politely if Stiles and I are mated,” Malia said shrewdly, “the answer is no. And I have never mated with anyone else, so all this being with someone I care about during the Run, is new territory for me. I am in good control over my shift though, so no worries there. The Moon won’t affect me.” She reassured him. Scott looked a lot more relaxed hearing that. “You’re a good Alpha, Scott. You’re doing a great job,” Malia smiled at him and looked up to see Stiles walking toward them.

“Hey you,” Stiles said grinning broadly. “The girls are asking for you and I need to borrow Scott for a bit.”

Malia stood up and pecked Stiles on the lips, “He’s all yours,” she grinned at him and went to find Lydia and Kira.  

—

The girls were sitting together setting up the tents as the guys built the fire. Liam and Mason went to go collect dry wood, which left Stiles alone with Scott. Scott looked between Malia and Stiles, before voicing out his thought, “Were you two fighting?” Stiles looked up from his task and wordlessly pointed to Malia and him as confirmation, “Yeah, you two.”

“No. Why would you think that?” Stiles said, going back to what he was doing.

“Honestly? This is the most relaxed I’ve seen you guys. Before, you seemed like you were trying too hard to appear to be happy. Now you sort of just…are.”

Stiles swallowed nervously. He hadn’t realized how transparent he’d been with Malia around his friends. So much, that the dynamic between them was a visible shift in perception. He’d thought he’d been careful to always act the same with her every time. Stiles leaned back on his hands and looked at his best friend, realizing belatedly an explanation was in order. He decided to take a stab at that thing called honesty.

“We’re not sure about our living situation this coming semester.  Things have been going well with us personally, but our landlady increased the rent. So now we have to figure out if we stay on for another year, move to a different place, or move out separately.” He rubbed the side of his face tiredly, “It was like this elephant in the room, and we’re just waiting for the other to bring it up. But I guess recently, it’s been like ‘what the hell’. I mean, if we were going to kill each other, we would have done so by now. So I guess…living together is still in the books.”

Scott nodded his head, a teasing grin breaking across his face, “So, that long winded answer has nothing to do with the fact that sex is back on the table?” Stiles blushed furiously while Scott laughed at him, muttering under his breath about werewolves and the lack of privacy.

_—_

Malia bent over the line of poles for the tent, sorting the different lengths out, when Lydia and Kira sat on either side of her. “Well, something’s different today. Did you finally get a chance to get your frustrations out in the past week?” Lydia asked casually.

“What are you talking about?” Malia said not noticing the glances being exchanged above her head.

“Between you and Stiles,” Kira added grinning at her.

Malia looked up at the girls frowning, “Okay, how about you guys just tell me what it is you want to ask? This side questioning is just confusing me.”

“You’re no fun to tease.” Lydia pouted.

“You and Stiles have been less touchy feely with each other lately, which tells us,” Kira shared a look with Lydia missing the comprehension dawning on Malia’s face, “that when Stiles said you guys were ‘busy’…”

“Oh my  _God_!” Malia turned red with embarrassment. “We are  _not_ talking about this!” How obvious had they been? How obvious had  _she_ been?

“I’m just glad that whatever it is, it’s back to normal. You two don’t seem… what was it? Tense around each other anymore.”

“Why are we still discussing my private aff-” Malia cut off when she saw Scott jump suddenly to his feet, his stance in defensive mode. She immediately sniffed the air and froze, her eyes widening. No. No. Not this… Not now.

A figure was moving in an easy gait toward them. Scott let out a low warning growl. “What are you doing here? You are not welcome.”

“No need to be so hostile to your former Alpha, Scott.” Peter smirked. “I just came to say hello to my daughter.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Cliffhanger Lovelies!!! Please don't hate me : ) I'll try not to leave you hanging too long! Love much.


	6. The Air I Took

_“No need to be so hostile to your former Alpha, Scott.” Peter smirked. “I just came to say hello to my daughter.”_

—

Malia felt her world fall around her. Her heart squeezed in her chest and she felt light headed like there was an absence of breath in her lungs. She was vaguely aware of the girls on either side of her looking at her like she was a stranger. But all her senses were fixed on Stiles. She hadn’t thought Peter would carry through and deliver on his threat. She had thought that he valued a possible relationship with his daughter, rather than being control of every aspect of her supernatural life. She should have known better to leave such a gaping wound for Peter to prod at. Hadn’t she learned that wants were dangerous? She’d  _wanted_  to belong for so long, and finally when it looked like she had won, her own _father_ had managed to cripple her using her desires against her.

At the back of her mind, she was aware that Peter was still talking, still poisoning the minds of her friends. Everything spewing from his mouth was a lie, upon lie but the greatest damage was done. So when Peter took her by the arm, and pulled her towards the car, she didn’t resist.

They had no reason to believe the truth now that she was caught in one lie.  It felt like her mind had gone numb with shock. She didn’t want to see the looks of betrayal that were surely around her. Any hope that she would be able to change her friends minds flew out the window. Stiles wouldn’t look at her and at the end of the day, his mind was the only one she wanted to change.

The drive to Derek’s loft was a silent one. Malia stared in front, remembering everything in detail like it had played in slow motion. His posture, his scent, his lack of reaction. Stiles in the past weeks had become easier and easier to read. She didn’t have to rely on her senses to gage his moods, and she knew if she tried, she would know what he was feeling without once scenting him.

As they drove on, the numbness gave in to anger, the kind simmering just under the surface, unpredictable in its nature and she found herself wanting to break something, destroy something especially if that thing was near and dear to Peter. If Peter was one thing, he was vain, which meant his crave for expensive materialistic things were endless. Translation: breakable. She glanced at the werewolf beside her with cool, undetached eyes, a plan forming in her mind.

The werewolf definitely felt a shift in the air, “I saved you from a lifetime of disappointment. You should be thanking me,” Peter broke the silence as they drew into the parking lot of the apartment.

Malia ignored him, getting out of the car. She closed the door, casually flicking her claws out, and dragged deep scratches into the exterior of the car door, sending sparks all around. Peter, who was halfway to the building, was not quick enough to stop her from damaging his car. Satisfied with her handiwork, Malia shouldered past him, “Have fun explaining  _that_  to the mechanic.”

Peter’s flared nostrils were the only sign that he was bothered by her actions. He’d wear thin in no time.

—

When they reached Derek’s loft, Malia bypassed Derek without a word, heading up the stairs into one of the rooms and locked the door. Derek turned surprised looking like he was about to follow her, when Peter flipped an object in his direction, distracting him. “If you want to stay in one piece, I’d suggest you let her cool off,” Peter said in his usual bored tone, as Derek looked at a photo of Peter’s car door on the phone.

Derek raised his eyebrows, examining the photo “Whatever it is, I’m sure you deserved it.” He said unsympathetically, throwing the phone back.

“All I wanted was for her to listen to what I had to say. If I say she can’t do something, she should know not to defy me.” Peter replied.

“You might share blood, but you are no parental figure, Peter.” Derek said crossing his arms on his chest. “She’s also an Omega with no loyalty towards you so you can’t even appeal to her coyote side and force her to obey. Finally, she is not a child or even an unruly teen. She is an adult. I don’t know what happened today but by her severe reaction, my best guess is it’s about a boy. I’d suggest you sleep with both eyes open for a couple nights just in case.” Derek opened the loft door and stood aside, a silent gesture to get his uncle to leave.

Peter’s jaw tightened like he was gritting his teeth, “I did her a favour”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night” Derek muttered closing the door, knowing Peter heard him.

—

Stiles sat quietly in the passenger seat of Lydia’s car as she drove him home.  Back on the reserve, his emotions had been all over the place. He was definitely angry, though of what he had no clue. It had been so bad, his hands had been trembling so violently that he was unable to start his car. He had refused a ride home from his best friend. The last thing he wanted was the werewolf scenting his every emotion, taking him apart like a puzzle, before even  _he_  knew what he was about.

Even though Scott had promised he wouldn’t, Stiles didn’t know if this was something werewolves could just turn off. He also wanted to avoid Scott’s concerned looks and attempted starts to conversations he had no desire to be a part of. Which was why he was here, in Lydia’s car, and if the banshee didn’t want her next prediction to be of her own death, she’d leave him alone too.  One thought occupied his thoughts the entire way home, repeating over and over again like a record player in his head.

Peter’s daughter.  _Peter’s_  daughter. Peter’s _daughter?_

—

Derek walked into the room the next morning and found Malia sitting at the island table with a glass of whiskey, the bottle almost half empty beside her. “You know we can’t get drunk, right?” Derek said after observing her for a little while.

“What’s the point of keeping this around?” Malia lifted the whiskey bottle before slamming it down, short of cracking the bottle. “For show? The pretty colours?” Malia spat, guzzling the drink anyway. The burn was delightful however short. 

Derek rolled his eyes and came back with a small vial with filled with greenish liquid. He put two drop of the unknown substance in the whiskey bottle and slid it towards Malia again. “It’s wolfsbane,” he answered the raised eyebrow directed at him. “I would usually suggest against day drinking but considering you’re related to Peter, I’m just surprised it took you this long to turn to a harmful substance.”

“That man can make nails on chalkboard sound like melodious music.” Malia mumbled pouring some into her glass. Taking a sip of the drink, she immediately felt a change. The drink took up a curious odor but otherwise added a pleasant kick to the amber liquid. She swirled the glass in her hand watching the liquid swish around.

“It certainly is not going to solve your problems, just delay facing them. Just don’t rely on it too much.” Derek advised.

“Sure, O Wise One” Malia replied, pouring herself another glass. Derek suppressed the urge to roll his eyes again. It was like trying to talk to Stiles. She’d been spending too much time with him.

Derek put the vial down on the counter and walked off. Malia frowned. What was he up to? Why would he leave the vial here? She knew the contents of the glass vial did not hold the answers she was looking for, but once she finished it, then what? Malia ran her fingers over the ridges of the bottle, debating what to do. Making up her mind, she pushed the bottle away from her. “Damn it, Derek!” 

Malia slumped in her seat and stared at her drink.  Maybe she should have chosen vodka instead. This drink was the same colour as Stiles’ eyes when the sunlight hit it. She shook her head slightly at her thoughts. Here she was trying to forget him, and her mind traveled back to Stiles anyways. She got up feeling restless and went to Derek’s laptop, booting it up and carrying it back to her spot. Clearly, not thinking about Stiles just made her think of him even more, so time to try another tactic.

—

Stiles woke up late morning on the couch where he’d passed out in his clothes. After sharing his bed with Malia for so many nights, it felt strange knowing she wasn’t going to join him. He had turned his phone off without looking at it and settling on the couch. Sleep had not come easy and Stiles finally drifted into uneasy sleep due to exhaustion.

Stiles’ eyes fluttered open and it took him a moment to recall why he was in his living room. Right, Malia. He didn’t move from his position from the couch as he thought back to the previous night. So if what Peter said was true, then Malia was a Hale. Had she lied about being a Tate? Was she really adopted? Was any of what she had said about her past true? But he was getting ahead of himself. This was all supposing that  _Peter_ of all people, was telling the truth, and if Scott hadn’t had that look of realization on his face, Stiles had been ready to call bullshit on the whole thing, even before Peter had dragged Malia away.

And that brought on part B. Even if Peter had twisted the truth, the fact remained that Malia had known of Scott’s existence as a True Alpha. She had known that Scott was his best friend for over a year, maybe more. So had she only gotten close to him because of Scott? What were the chances really? The more Stiles dissected Peter’s words, the more holes he found in her story. This made him very uneasy. It was hard to digest that one moment, one night could ruin an entire friendship. “There  _has_ to be another explanation,” Stiles sighed, rubbing his eyes in frustration.  

He was glad that his dad had gone to work, since he had been trying to avoid anyone asking questions on things he didn’t even want to think about right now. He spent the entire day lazing about, and then out of pure boredom, started doing house chores. Another sure sign of the pending discussion between his dad and him. Stiles  _never_  did housework. After he was done, Stiles head to the living room, connected his laptop to the TV and binge watched shows on Netflix. Around 9 o'clock, he heard a knock on the door. Scott stood on his porch with his hands in his pockets. “Hey Stiles.”

“Nope” Stiles didn’t even give him the chance to say anything back, and closed the door in his face. There was silence on the opposite side, and he hoped that maybe Scott had gotten the message and go away. The knock a couple seconds later answered that. A sigh escaped him, “Fine, come in. But we’re not talking about it.”

Scott laughed and opened the door, before looking around surprised. Stiles saw the look. Okay yeah, he’d done a pretty impressive job. He was happy that other than his expression, Scott didn’t say anything about it. Instead, “Is your phone off?”

“No. It died. I just haven’t bothered to charge it yet,” Stiles answered flippantly. “Wanna play some games? Everything’s already hooked up…” Stiles trailed off looking at the consoles. His mind flashed back to Malia beating him at Mortal Combat. “Screw that. Let’s go out somewhere.” He grabbed his jacket from the hook and look at Scott expectantly.

Scott didn’t even bat an eyelash at Stiles’ sudden change of destination. He knew him too well. “Do you know where you want to go?” 

“I’m open to anything.” Stiles shrugged

“A new club opened up recently. I’ve yet to check it out. It’s called…” Scott frowned.  “I forgot what it’s called actually. We can go there?” Scott offered.

“Just us right?”  Stiles asked, getting a nod in response. “But what’s the point if you can’t get drunk? I don’t want to be the only one drinking.”

“Actually, I can now” Scott grinned, “It’s pretty cool, Derek introduced me to it. Here I’ll tell you on the way. But dude, you have to change into something better. I am  _not_  taking you out dressed like that.”

“Wha?” Stiles sputtered looking down at his attire and then made a face at Scott. “It’s not like I’m planning on picking up anyone!”

“I know, but it’s a bit of a fancy place. Look like you care at least.” Five minutes later, Stiles came down with a plaid shirt buttoned up on top of his black tee. His hair looked like he’d just wet his hair and run his hand through it, but it was better than the disaster he’d had sported before. “Better,” Scott opened the door and they headed out. 

—

As soon as they walked into the main room, Stiles’s ears were assaulted by the loud bass. He looked around to see how his best friend was fairing. Scott winced, motioning towards the bar on the far side away from the speakers with his hand and Stiles nodded following. He noticed the bartender was someone he’d gone to school with. One of Danny’s exes. He nodded in greeting, getting a beer and then turned to survey his surroundings. 

Scott stood beside him, nodding to the crowd, “What do you think?” 

“I think they could have found a better name than ‘Escape’. Other than that, not my type of music, but it’s not bad.” Stiles stated, leaning his elbows against the counter, taking a sip of his beer. 

Scott nodded looking down at his phone for a second, “Hey, I’ll be right back.” Stiles nodded absentmindedly and returned to watching people dancing, if you could even call it that. More like they were just rubbing against each other. A few minutes later he was joined by a petite girl, looking to be around the same age as him. 

“Hey there, you look new around here,” she said in the way of greeting. Stiles turned to her slightly surprised. He didn’t think he’d get hit on at all, especially in Beacon Hills. He looked down at his attire just to double check what he was wearing, when it occurred to him that she was probably waiting for a response of some sort. 

“Uh, hi. I’m actually from here, just back for the holidays.” He smiled at the blonde.

They chatted for a bit when the girl, Samantha said, “You here with friends or…?”

“Friends. My buddy’s somewhere around here actually.” Stiles looked around for Scott. Where had he gone? 

“Would you maybe like to dance?” Samantha asked nervously. 

Stiles should have been expecting this. He really should have, but it still came as a shock anyways. He quickly agreed, finishing his drink and followed her into the crowded room to the dance floor, to where the rest of her friends were. They got into a comfortable rhythm that just consisted of swaying to the beat. It wasn’t terrible, it just wasn’t his style. He was more of a pub type. His ideal place was the kind he’d taken Malia to the other… Stiles swallowed and tried to get his mind off those thoughts. He came to have a good time, and he was dancing with a cutie. What was wrong with him? ‘I’m way too sober for this shit’ he thought. Stiles bent down to his dance partner’s ear, “would you like something to drink?” He yelled over the music. Samantha shook her head no, so he excused himself, pushing his way to the bar. He spotted Scott immediately. “Hey man, where did you go?”

“Sorry, Kira called asking where we were. I couldn’t hear her that well so I stepped out for a while. Having fun?” Scott nodded at the direction Stiles had come from. The thing with Scott was that he never had to say anything directly, the heavy judgement was there on his face, for all to see. 

“I’m not  _cheating_  on her!” Stiles blurted out, immediately wanting to kick himself after.  Of course that’s what Scott thought. To everyone else, Stiles was the douche dancing with a girl that wasn’t his girlfriend, while pretending to be available. He wasn’t cheating. You can’t cheat on someone who was never yours to begin with. So why did it feel like he was doing something bad?

As though Scott could read his thoughts, he gave him the  _who are you trying to fool_ look, taking a sip of his beer. Stiles dropped his gaze and ordered one of his own, downing the thing in one go. “I don’t know what we are, okay?” He said dejectedly. “And I don’t know how I feel,” Stiles blinked a couple times and took a deep breath to get his emotions under control. He signalled the bartender for another beer.  

Scott saw how miserable Stiles looked, trying to drown himself in his drink. Coming to the club was a bad idea, and he hadn’t thought Stiles would accept an invitation to dance with another girl, but well, he had and here they were. He never should have left. He paid the bartender for Stiles’ and his drinks and tapped him on the shoulder, “Come on Stiles, let’s get you home.” 

“Nope. Not home. Anywhere but home.” Stiles mumbled. Scott sighed. They were in for a long night.

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello Lovelies! Thank you for your patience in waiting for me to upload this installment. Sorry it took so long. I think part of me was just trying to avoid having my babies go through their clusterfuck of emotions. Drunk Stiles in next chapter! :)


	7. Lost Til You're Found

Stiles sat with his back to a log beside Scott, playing with a blade of grass quietly. Scott looked curiously at his best friend. Usually Stiles was a happy, talkative drunk. But then again, Stiles had very little to be happy about right now. “What am I doing, Scotty? How do I get her back? Do I even  _want her back?”_  

“Of course you do Stiles, she’s your girlfriend. You guys just have to talk-”

Stiles cut him off with a shout, “NO! God dammit I’m so tired of this shit! I’m not dating Malia! She’s not my girlfriend!” Stiles dropped his head in his hands, his voice slightly muffled. “She’s just-Just my college roommate…”

Scott sat frozen. What? Stiles was drunk… He didn’t know what he was saying. But Scott knew deep down that wasn’t true.  Maybe he should stop him? He probably had a good reason from keeping this from Scott to right? Morbid curiosity won over, and Scott felt guilty as he asked, “Why did you lie?”

Stiles, completely oblivious to what he’d admitted a second ago, looked down at his hands, “Lydia. Lydia asked me to bring m-my girlfriend, and I-I panicked okay? I know it’s weird, but I just wanted to have some part of my life together. College is tougher than I thought, and well, I was stressed about my exams and with everything else, I felt like I had to prove that I was doing better in some part—any part of my life—than how I was at Beacon Hills you know? So I lied.” Stiles swallowed the lump that was in his throat. He sounded slightly choked up with his next words, “Scott, she’s not mine.”

Scott found his voice, “Do you want her to be?”

 “I don’t know. I don’t know what I want.”

Scott put his arm around his best friend, and side hugged him. He had to help get Stiles’s mind off this topic somehow. Maybe talk about something positive? It was clear that Stiles had a one track mind at the moment. “Tell me about your favourite thing about Malia,” he heard himself say.

 Stiles rubbed his eyes, a memory invading his mind, making him smile privately. He vaguely recognized that he was about to break his promise.

- _flashback-_

_“Okay, so sleeping arrangement wise, we have to share a bed. I have a double, but it might be slightly cramped.” Stiles said nervously, watching Malia carefully._

_Malia shrugged, “Okay. As long as you don’t grind your teeth in your sleep, we are fine.” she joked._

_Stiles was silent for a bit. Malia looked at him, “What is it?”_

_“Well what if someone asks how we met? Do we make up some mediocre version?” Stiles chewed on his bottom lip._

_“Can’t we just say that we met at a mutual friends’ party? That part is true enough. No one needs to know the details.”_

_“Man, that night was awkward! Might be worth sharing.” Stiles grinned_

_Malia shoved him gently, “I thought we agreed not to talk about it. Ever!”_

_Stiles laughed, enjoying her discomfort. “I don’t remember agreeing to that. ”_

_“You will when I describe how descriptive you can be of your previous dates, when you’re drunk,” Malia threatened “I’m sure your friends would_ love  _to hear about your colourful monologues.”_

_Stiles gaped, “You wouldn’t dare!” Malia grinned evilly. “Okay fine. First meeting…off the table.”_

_“You know Stiles, sometimes I cringe when I think about what you might say about me when you are drunk”_

_“Well, we’ll never be in that position, so you’re in the clear.” Stiles promised._

_-end flashback-_

“ —I mean, it’s not like I’m limited you know? College girls man! But you’d think she would tell me about having two dads if that’s even true I mean who knows at this point right? Peter’s daughter! Oh my fucking  _god_!”

 “Well-” Scott tried getting a word in.

 “But let me tell you! Lia is gorgeous, don’t you think so? And beautiful, especially when she laughs, and she’s so cute with short hair, but long hair looks good too you know? And her eyes have this warm brown to them, and sparkle! They sparkle Scott! Have you ever seen eyes sparkling? Especially brown eyes?”

“Uh-”

“I bet she’s even beautiful when she transforms. She’s super smart and funny and has distractedly wonderful legs. Looks so cute with how she pushes her hair off her face and bites her lip when she’s stressed, and-”

Scott shook his head, tuning Stiles out again. His friend sounded like a love struck teenager. He wondered if Stiles was aware of how much he’d noticed about someone he claimed to be just a friend. Also, when did he find time to study, if he was staring at his roommate the entire time? Had she really not noticed? When he heard his name being called, it registered that Stiles was asking him a question.

“Hmm?”

“What do you smell like?” Stiles turned to Scott, as he started choking on air. Stiles continued, “I asked Malia that one time, and she looked all red and didn’t answer me. But she told me once that we smelt the same.”

Scott cleared his throat and sat up, “I guess she reacted that way, because scent is a personal thing.”

“How’s it personal, Dude? Any supernatural creature can smell each other.” Stiles argued.

Scott shot a look at him, “Do you see me sniff every new person I meet? That would be so weird, and not to mention wrong. Plus it’s none of my business you know?” He met Stiles’ confused expression, “It’s not like…by knowing this detail they’re any less of the person they say they are. I only know Kira’s scent because we’ve been in each other’s personal space,that it becomes sweet to know, rather than a privacy invasion.” Scott tried explaining the best way he could.

“So…it’s a couples thing?” Stiles said softly, managing to look both thoughtful and sad at the same time.

“I guess yeah it could be.” Scott said, staring out into the open. The silence stretched between them and they sat there listening to the sounds of the night around them. Scott sighed. Finding out that Stiles was never dating Malia complicated issues in resolving things between them. Malia was an extension of Stiles, girlfriend or no. So it wasn’t even like they could speak to her, while Stiles currently wasn’t on talking terms with her. But he had to do  _something_ to help out his friend. When he finally spoke again, he tried to put as much conviction in his words as possible, “We will get her back, Stiles. We’ll get her back. I promise.” 

—

The next day, as Stiles was having cereal for breakfast, the Sheriff opened the door letting Scott in. Scott started talking as soon as he walked through the front door. "Okay, so I have a plan to get her back.”

“Get her- What are you talking about, Scotty?”

“Stiles, I know…” Scott looked at him meaningfully. At his continued confused expression, he added, “That you guys weren’t really dating.”

“You weren’t really dating?” Sheriff asked surprised. If the situation had not been so serious, Stiles would have patted himself on the back, for being able to deceive the two people who were supposed to know him the best.

“How did you-” he began, when he caught Scott’s guilty look, “Oh no. Nononono. What did I say last night? I don’t even  _remember_ anything past leaving the bar!” Stiles mumbled into his hands, mortified. Shit. SHIT!

“Dude, you didn’t have to hide this from me. But that doesn’t matter. It’s not what I came here to talk to you about. It’s obvious she cares about you-”

All Stiles’ questions about the previous night flew out the window as he heard what Scott had said. Stiles rounded on him, “Does she? I mean she was  _supposed_ to pretend to be in a relationship with me! How do I know she wasn’t pretending with me as well?! How do I know that I was the only person that was  _feeling_ everything?” No one said anything. “See? Even you-” Stiles cut himself off looking at his phone ringing. He frowned at the caller ID, and quickly took the call, partially because of curiosity, but mostly to get away from this conversation. He walked away from the Sheriff and Scott who watched him go, before looking at one another.

“I’ve been around that girl and Stiles a handful of times, and even  _I_ can see how much he means to her.” Stilinski said to Scott.

Scott rubbed his hands over his face tiredly, “I’ve seen it too. I think only Stiles hasn’t realized this. Or if he has, he’s trying to deny it.  She looks at him like…”

“Yeah” Sheriff agreed quietly, looking up when his son stormed into the room looking furious.

“She’s leaving. She called Jason saying- And her bags! Why are her bags gone?!” He rounded on his dad this time.

The sheriff sighed, “Son, stop yelling. Derek came by earlier and asked for them.” Seeing Stiles open his mouth to protest, he added, “I wasn’t going to hold them ransom, Stiles.” He watched as Stiles visibly deflated at his words. “Why don’t you just go talk to her. She’s probably still at Derek’s.” Sheriff suggested gently. Stiles grabbed his keys and was about to leave, when the Sheriff grabbed his arm, “Go see her tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow? She could be on her way-”

“Stiles, sit down and finish your breakfast. I’m not having you and your temper barge into any homes so you can go yell at people, just because you are frustrated with life.”

“I  _have_ to talk to her. I can’t wait until tomorrow,”

“Fine. Go later today. But sit yourself down. Eat. You will need your strength,” Sheriff advised his son.

Stiles grumbled, “Well, what do I do now?”

“Hanging out with your friends would be nice,” Scott suggested, smiling at him and then remembering Stiles’ outburst, asked, “Uh-Who’s Jason?”

—

Stiles stood opposite the door debating what to say first. He didn’t know who was home, but he just hoped it wasn’t Peter. Finally the door just opened as the occupant sensed his presence. “Were you planning on standing there all day?” Derek asked dryly.

Stiles huffed, “I need to speak with Malia.”

“She’s not here.” Derek said.

“Then where is she?” Derek looked like he was thinking about the question and then simply looked back at Stiles like  _Really? You thought I’d tell you? “_ Did she leave?” He was met with no reaction. Clearly Derek wasn’t going to say anything. Stiles’ shoulders slumped. He was too late. He should have gotten here sooner, should have stopped her, talked to her…Something!! He ran his finger through his hair and started pacing. Now what? 

“It’s not like you are together.” Derek said, watching Stiles’ slew of reactions. The ‘she doesn’t owe you anything’ went unsaid.

“We’re still  _friends_!” Stiles bit out.

“Are you? I wouldn’t have known, considering you kept ignoring her texts and calls.”

Stiles gestured wildly with his arms, as his voice gradually got louder and louder. “I was ignoring  _everyone’s_  texts and calls dammit! Scott literally had to fucking come over in order to fucking talk to me! And even then, I almost didn’t-" He cut himself off, breathing heavily and trying to get himself back under control.

"So if you had found her here, what were you going to do? Yell at her?” Derek questioned. Stiles hadn’t really thought that far ahead. It seemed like a common theme with him these days. He  _yeah_ probably would have lost it on her too. Stiles gripped his hair in frustration. He had very little reason to be angry with her now. Why was he acting like such a jerk?

“She’s at her dad’s. She’s leaving tomorrow” Derek said reluctantly.

Stiles looked up slowly, gazing past Derek at the bags by the door. “Is she coming back for those? I’m not really ever in the mood to visit Peter.”

“I said she was at her dad’s. Not Peter’s. And if you really believed she’d lie about having two dads, you are a bigger idiot than I thought and definitely don’t deserve her.” Derek slammed the door in his face. 

Stiles sighed, leaning against the wall outside, closing his eyes. He though back to his conversation with the pack after he had told them about the shipwreck that was him and Malia. If Scott knew, it wouldn’t be long until he told Kira. And who knew when the story would just spill out to everyone else? Much safer to come clean. Though facing Lydia had been super uncomfortable.

- _flashback-_

_“When we talked, she admitted to having spent her full moons with her biological dad. She even said how she wasn’t really close with him.” Scott said._

_“So your saying-”_

_Scott nodded, “If she was planning on sabotaging your trust or friendship, she wouldn’t have told me all this, werewolf or no. She would’ve wanted to keep it all a secret. Which means, she had no idea Peter was going to do this.”_

_“And another thing,” Kira said from Scott’s other side, “She wanted to spend the next full moon with us. Go on the Run. Peter probably didn’t want that. You know, his own daughter joining the McCall pack? So he probably tried to stop her, and when that didn’t work, his methods became more drastic”_

_“I still can’t believe you guys weren’t already dating,” Lydia shook her head, “I’m usually pretty good at picking up on these things,”_

_“Yeah, we fooled everyone, didn’t we?” Stiles said sarcastically. “Oh joy. Let’s celebrate.”_

_“Including yourselves, Stiles,” Lydia folded her arms, looking at him sternly. “You can’t honestly believe you just_ suddenly _had all these feelings for her! That’s_ not _how it works.”_

_Stiles gritted his teeth, biting back a rude comment at the tip of his tongue. His eyes fell on Scott, who was trying so hard not to smile, that in this conversation, the reaction seemed out of place. When he noticed Stiles looking at him, he said, “You do get very descriptive when you’re drunk,”_

_Stiles groaned blushing hard. “Oh God, please, please kill me now,” He didn’t even want to know! The glint in Scott’s eye told him, he didn’t have much choice in the matter._

- _end flashback-_

Okay. So Malia hadn’t lied. Then why was she leaving without saying anything to him? He had realized belatedly that he only had her email and cell number. They didn’t have the same friends, he wasn’t in any of her classes, she wasn’t on Flitter, or any other social sites. So if she moved from their apartment, she’d virtually disappear from his life. This scared him to no end. Stiles took a deep breath and began his long descent down the stairs. On the ground floor, he saw Peter walk in from the parking lot.

Peter rolled his eyes upon seeing him, “Do either of you know how to use the elevator?” Stiles was not paying attention. He was looking at the rental Peter was driving. “What happened to your new car?” He asked curiously.

“Why don’t you ask your girlfriend? Oh wait. That’s right. She’s not actually your girlfriend,” Peter smiled gleefully. Stiles’ scowl that he usually reserved for the werewolf deepened as he clenched his fists, walking away, imagining an elaborate plan to murder Peter in his head, that had him feeling slightly better at the end of it. He really hated that guy.

—

Malia tossed and turned but no matter what she tried, sleep eluded her. Frustrated, she grabbed her sweater slipping it on and headed out her door. She walked to the kitchen sitting down on the table. The light came on a few minutes later. Tate stood at the door, looking at his daughter, “Couldn’t sleep?”

Malia nodded, head in her hands. “I actually haven’t been sleeping all that well recently.” Tate sighed, leaning against the door. She could tell he was itching to ask her a question and was holding himself back. “Not now, dad” she said, directing her words to the table. Malia watched as he made his way into the kitchen to make her hot chocolate, “It’s summer. It’s too hot for hot chocolate.”

Tate turned smiling, “But I’m making it with whipped cream, nutmeg and cinnamon. Just how you like it at those fancy coffee shops you go to.” Tate slid the mug over, and despite herself Malia smiled, sipping at the drink. “So, this is the same boy you’ve been talking about.”

Malia raised an eyebrow, “Cutting to the chase, aren’t we? Not surprised, but still.”

Tate shrugged, not one for beating round the bush. He’d taught her much the same. “Well, you finally know he likes you back, so why aren’t you together?”

“Because of the Peter thing!” Malia couldn’t help bursting out.

“So you do want to talk about it” Tate said as Malia pouted. “Did you try calling him again?”

“What’s the point? He won’t talk to me.”

“Listen honey. What you did wasn’t wrong. You just wanted people to like you for you, and not… And that is understandable. I’m sure he has come to the same conclusion.” Tate took her hand in his and squeezed gently, “I am not here to tell you what you should or should not do. But I hope… I hope you will do what makes you happy. That you won’t wake up one day, regretting the decisions you made. That’s not the young woman I raised.”

Malia nodded in understanding, swallowing her doubt, "Thanks dad. Love you.”

“Love you too, honey.”

—

The next day, Stiles woke up on the couch again, feeling around for his phone that was ringing, “Hello?” he said groggily. “Whoa! Scott slow down, what happened?”

“Malia. She apparently left a note to her dad saying she was going over to Derek’s, but Derek says she never got home. Look, we’re going over to Peter’s to check if she’s there. Can you ask your dad maybe keep a look out for her?” Scott asked.

Stiles felt his stomach drop at his thought, “Scott… what if she left?”

“Just talk to your dad okay? We’ll find her.”

Stiles ran to his room to change quickly, and skidded to a halt. Was he seeing things? He blinked a couple times to make sure he wasn’t imagining this. There on his bed, was Malia. He sagged against the door frame, relief flooding him. She was here. She was safe. Stiles approached the bed cautiously. Malia’s tousled hair hid most of her face, but she looked like she was in deep sleep. He had the urge to join her but what if he woke up and she was gone? Then what?  

Hearing the sounds of the shower, Stiles slipped into his dad’s room. Rummaging through the drawers he found what he was looking for. Returning to his room, he slipped under the sheets. Malia unconsciously curled into his chest as soon as he settled down, her nose pressing into his neck. Stiles smiled softly, breathing in the faint smell of vanilla in her hair. He placed a gentle kiss on her head and lay down beside her. Wrapping his arm around her waist, he held her close, and fell into the most fitful sleep he’d had in days, almost instantly.

—

The Sheriff was just about to leave the house, when his phone rang, “Did it work?” came Scott’s voice at the other end.

The Stilinski looked up at the ceiling above him, a small smile crossing his face, “Yes. It definitely worked.”

—

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That’s right. That just happened. More to come, Lovelies! I thought I’d show some past Stiles and Malia interactions, as a make up for the lack of it in the present. I am currently writing their backstory in a separate story :) Hope you enjoyed this chapter! All mistakes are my own (which is probably the reason it takes twice as long to upload, considering the amount of time I spent proofreading my work)


	8. We Howl To The Moon

When Malia woke up, she immediately knew her head was resting on Stiles’ chest. Even before opening her eyes, she knew this.  It wasn’t that uncommon at the apartment to fall asleep on the couch together, and for a second she thought that’s where they were. Then the memories of the past couple days came rushing back, all at once. Her eyes flew open and she looked up to see, Stiles yes, but what time was it? When did he get here? Why didn’t he wake her? Malia didn’t have an answer for any of those questions, and the only one that did, was fast asleep, with his mouth open.  _So attractive_ , her mind supplied unhelpfully.

Malia remembered the previous night, how her dad had suggested getting some rest before talking to Stiles and she hadn’t been able to sleep until 6 in the morning, worrying about what she was going to say to him. She had made her way over early and slipped through the window to wake Stiles up to talk to him. Except Stiles wasn’t in his room. Malia had gone through some serious Stiles withdrawal during the past couple days and just being in his room with his scent all over the place had calmed her so much, before she knew it, she had fallen asleep on his bed. 

Glancing up at Stiles, she saw how his eyelashes fanned against his cheeks, looking deceivingly innocent as he slept. She moved her hand in an attempt to wake him when she heard a jingling sound and confused looked down at the source of the noise. He had  _handcuffed_  her….to him. She supposed this turn of events was partially her fault. But wait. She had come to him. Why would she run? The more she thought about this, the angrier she got.

“STILES!” 

Stiles bolted upright on the bed, consequently pulling Malia toward him.  He saw the expression on her face, and paled.”Sh-shit. I-I can explain okay?” 

Malia stood up from the bed, bringing him with her. Stiles stumbled a little to get his bearings at being moved so quickly after his nap. “ _Really?_  There’s an explanation to handcuffing someone to you? Because that is a normal ‘we need to talk method’!”

“You were leaving!” Stiles said getting defensive right away. Great. Now they were fighting. He saw her looking at the cuffs like she had just remembered she was a supernatural creature, “Don’t. I need to return these to my dad in one piece.”

“That’s what you have to say to me!?” Malia growled.

“I had to do  _something_ , okay! You were LEAVING!” He repeated with emphasis on the last word.

“Stiles, you found me on  _your_  bed! YOUR bed! What made you think I would just leave without saying anything?” Malia said furiously.

“I-I panicked okay? I didn’t see you for so many days and then you were here! And I panicked.” Stiles said biting his lip stepping back as far as the cuffs would allow him to go, sensing she was about to get a whole lot more worked up than before. He was right. Of course he had to be right about  _this_. Nice going Stiles.

“And your first thought was 'let’s trap her. She will TOTALLY understand when she wakes up and  _not_ murder me?’ What normal person comes to that conclusion? Couldn’t you have locked the door or closed the window or left a note? Or oh! Maybe just woke me up! Do you at least have keys to this thing?!”

Stiles half turned around, wanting to hide behind something, “No?”

Malia groaned, her head in her left hand that wasn’t attached to Stiles’. “This has got to be your worst plan ever!”

“No.” Stiles got serious really fast after that statement, stepping close to her, and looking straight in her eyes. It was definitely intimidating to see that sudden change happen, and Malia took an instinctive step back. “No it isn’t. You know what is  _actually_  one of my worst ideas? That would be asking YOU to be my pretend girlfriend. Pretend, Malia! And you couldn’t even do that! No. You just had to be your adorable, beautiful self around me and r-”

Malia raised her eyebrows slightly as Stiles continued his tirade. He himself seemed oblivious of the word vomit he was spouting, or he would have stopped by now. That was not what she had expected him to say. Despite the extreme measures that Stiles had taken to keep her in one place, it was not lost on her that it was, at the heart of it, sweet. She was brought back to the present to Stiles gesturing wildly, and just in time to catch the tail end of his words.

“Do you know how crazy I was going? I can’t  _think_  straight when I’m around you anymore. There’s clear evidence of that huh?And I-I just can’t-Just how do you expect me to-You just HAD to make me admit-God! I mean do you have ANY idea how exhausting it was to force myself to not lik-”

Malia didn’t want to hear anymore, probably because she didn’t really need hear any more. She tugged hard on the cuffed hand, pulling Stiles closer to her with a jerk. Stiles, caught off guard fell forward but Malia steadied him with both hands and said softly, her brown eyes on his. “Are you done?”

Stiles swallowed, his concentration slipping as he took note of her hands gripping his shirt. His eyes took in her face, “Not even close.” he whispered, eyes dropping to her lips.  Malia leaned in that moment capturing his lips with hers. 

The force of them coming together made Stiles stumble back, his back connecting to the wall behind him, and effectively restricting his movements. He closed his eyes, leaning forward into the kiss, eyebrows climbing his forehead as he felt want building in his chest, overwhelming him. Stiles cupped her face in his hand, kissing her deeply. Malia tilted her head, slotting their mouths together gripping his shirt.  After a bit, he felt her pulling away and tried to chase her lips with his, when he felt a hand on his chest holding him back. 

Stiles opened his eyes to find her looking at him intently, “I missed you.” Malia said with a quiver in her voice. Stiles could tell this was hard for her to say this aloud, to be so vulnerable and open with her words. Malia was someone who expressed herself with actions better, so he knew this was a big thing for her. She had come to understand that Stiles was a lot more vocal, and might need to hear this from her. “Even if you were mad at me. I had to see you.” 

Stiles tucked a hair strand behind her ear. “I could  _never_  be mad at you, Lia. I missed you so much.”

“I can see that,” Malia smiled while lifting their cuffed hands. 

“Better not hear you complain, since you’ve been using them against me.” Malia placed a closed mouth kiss on him, soft and sweet. Gentle, yet loving. Stiles’ hands trailed down to hold her by her arms, guiding her forward as he turned and backed up towards the bed. They fell in a tangle of uncoordinated limbs, bumping their foreheads against each other in the process. 

Malia laughed, as Stiles worked on untangling himself from her, doing very little to help. She sighed facing him as he settled down, lying down on his right side, “We should probably talk.”

“Yeah,” Stiles said leaning in to kiss her.

Malia moved her head back, “Stiles,” she scolded gently.  

“Hmm?” Stiles looked at her innocently, as he propped himself on his right elbow, leaning over her, giving her small kisses between his words, “We will, I promise,” Stiles said right before he tangled his other hand in her hair, kissing her senseless. Malia leaned up to meet him and fell back on the bedspread, tilting her head back, as Stiles trailed open mouthed kisses down her neck.

“Stiles,” Malia breathed, her fingers curled in his hair, tugging him back to her lips. He moaned into her mouth, his fingers dancing up and down her arm, kissing her languidly.

Stiles broke the kiss first, dropping to her other side, when his arm started hurting with the strain. He turned toward her and they looked at one another in silence as they caught their breath.

Malia eyes drooped, and she took his palm in hers, threading their fingers together, a small smile on her face that mirrored his. Malia curled into his chest, tangling their legs together and Stiles kissed the top of her head, cuddling her, his smile lingering.

—

“Malia! Stop moving!” Stiles gritted his teeth, having difficulty trying to concentrate on the road. Malia’s head was on his lap, making it very very hard to not have his head in the gutter. Malia just laughed, enjoying watching Stiles squirm.  

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” Malia turned her head slightly toward him.

“Oh God, seriously. I’m  _driving_. Do you want to get to the police station alive? Because that’s what this comes down to!” Malia looked up at him grinning, but stayed in one place. “You are a horrible person,” Stiles glanced down, a smile betraying his stern expression.  He turned into the parking lot and parked the jeep, looking around. “Okay, you can sit up now. I don’t think anyone’s looking. Malia got up quickly, trying to get the crick out of her shoulder.  

They got out from the passenger side since it was easier, and walked quickly into the station, wanting to get the whole ordeal over with. Malia grabbed Stiles’ hand to minimize people noticing their cuffs, and walked toward Parrish who was sitting by the desk.

“We need your help,” Stiles said urgently.

“Yes,” Parrish cocked an eyebrow, “Sheriff informed me of that, and actually had a request. So,” he gestured to their joined hands, pulling out his phone camera. Stiles’ face burned red, and Malia seriously considered breaking the cuffs after all, as they brought their hands up grudgingly. A blinding flash later, Parrish stood up and reached over to uncuff them. “Have a great day!” he grinned widely, enjoying this way too much in Stiles’ opinion.

“I seriously hope the photo gets too distorted because of your eyes, to use for anything.” Stiles grumbled, as they walked back to the jeep, rubbing his wrist where there was an angry red mark. Malia made a noise of agreement. “Like it wasn’t humiliating enough.”

“I  _never_ ever want to be in cuffs again!” She said shaking her stiff wrist in front of her.

Stiles looked at her licking his lips, “I don’t know. I might want to be in them, at some point.” Malia looked at him blushing bright red as she caught on to what he was implying. Stiles grinned at her reaction, laughing as he ducked from the swipe aimed at him.  

—

Two nights later, Stiles and Malia were waiting for everyone to show up at the reserve for the Run.  They were sitting on the hood of the jeep, leaning against the windshield, staring at the clear night sky in comfortable silence. The moon was just starting to rise, and it wouldn’t be long until the others showed up.  Malia had seemed restless at the house, so Stiles had brought her here much earlier in hopes that it would sooth her nerves.  It seemed to be having some positive effect, so that was good.

He crossed his arms over his chest and turned his head toward her, “Still nervous?”

Malia sighed, “Not the transformation part,” she swallowed. “I’ve only ever run by myself for years. Sharing this experience scares me.”

Stiles took her hand in his, “Don’t worry, I’m here.”

Malia turned to him, “That scares me too.”

Stiles shook his head smiling, “You are going to have  _so_ much fun, you will forget all about being nervous.” He leaned forward, and cupping her cheek, kissed her softly. Malia felt like butter.  Her senses were heightened due to the full moon, and she felt more than she would, on a regular night. She could feel the moment her nerves fizzled away, and she gripped his shirt tighter in both her fists bringing him closer. She couldn’t help it. The full moon overwhelmed her and all she wanted was Stiles as close to her as was humanly possible.

“Ready to go Malia?” an amused voice said behind them. Stiles and Malia jerked away surprised, looking at the newcomer. They noticed then that the rest of the pack were there too, a little further away. When did they get here?

“Hey Scott,” Malia said slightly distracted. She was looking at Stiles curiously. She hadn’t even heard Scott approaching. It seemed like kissing Stiles today served as some sort of sound blocker.

Scott grinned at her, “It happens,” he said shrugging like he knew what she was thinking.

Stiles looked between them “What happens?”

Malia slid down from the hood of the jeep, “Give me a minute,” Malia ignored Stiles’ question, directing her statement to Scott. He nodded and walked away to give them some privacy.

She turned towards him when he stood beside her, wrapping his hands around her waist. “It’s okay, you got this. I’m right here if you need me.” Malia smiled, nudging his nose gently before joining Scott, Kira, and Liam, getting ready to shift.

Lydia walked over to Stiles with Mason, leaning against the jeep. “Hey Stiles, I had a question about something,” she said with a teasing smile. Mason beside her was trying really hard not to laugh.

Stiles looked between the two scowling, “He sent it to you too, didn’t he?” he said referring to Parrish taking the picture at the station. He rolled his eyes, “I swear, the one time…”

“One time?” Mason cut in. “Your track record is much longer than one time.”

“Well there’s proof of his stupidity this time round,” Lydia said conversationally to Mason pretending as though Stiles wasn’t there.

“Okay. I don’t have to listen to this.” Stiles said pushing off the jeep.  He turned back a second later to add, “For the record, I don’t regret my actions. I’ll even frameand laminate that damn picture if I ever get my hands on it.”

“So I’m guessing things are good with Malia then?” Mason asked. “We were all surprised when we saw you in one piece.”

Stiles got this fond look on his face, “Things are great with Malia.”

“So…?” Lydia prodded.

“So?” Stiles looked confused.

“So, aren’t you going to thank me? If I hadn’t asked about you bringing your girlfriend, you wouldn’t have lied to me, and we wouldn’t be here right now, talking about this happy news”

Stiles looked at her incredulous, “Are you  _seriously_ trying to get credit for this?”

“Only when its justified.”

Stiles rolled his eyes, knowing she would not let this go until he said the words, “Thanks Lydia,” he said dryly.

Lydia sighed shrugging, “I guess I can accept that.”

“So, tell us,” Mason grinned, “How did it happen?”

Stiles looked at the two eager faces in front of him, “Forget it. I’m  _not_ telling you!” Even as he said the words, he knew he was going to lose this battle.

—

_Malia closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. She felt the change happening instantly.  Her fingers grew into claws and her canines lengthening into lethal points. She opened her blue eyes and looked around her, a warm feeling growing in her chest. A pack. She was going to Run with a pack. Malia looked at the beta, the kitsune and finally the Alpha, nodding once, to signal she was ready. The Alpha nodded back, looking around in silent communication, before he turned and ran up the slope. It had begun._

_Malia loved to run because it made her feel unbridled. She loved the feeling of the wind wiping her hair back, as her powerful legs carried her forward. She loved the scent of damp earth and pine, mingling with a spice that was hard to place. Each place she transformed at, had a different smell, and this was no exception._

_She enjoyed the freedom the vast space provided her with, but most of all, she loved the sense of security around her. The sense of belonging, and she thought about all this as she rested with the pack, on the highest point of the forest, overlooking the town with its twinkling lights._

_Malia felt surprisingly light this full moon, like there was a huge weight that was lifted off her, but she still felt restless, like something was amiss. In the corner of her mind, she remembered a conversation she had had with Scott._

_Suddenly she understood what it meant, the urgency to get back running through her like a current. Malia turned around, but stopped and looked at the Alpha first. A silent look of understanding passed between them, and then Malia was zipping down through the forest, the ground a blur at her feet, until she got to the clearing._

_Stiles._

_—_

Stiles was laying on the hood on top of a blanket, his eyes closed as he waited for the pack to get back, so they could continue on with the rest of the Run activities. Scott always made sure to include everyone, supernatural and human alike in the ceremony, as it was formally called.

He was enjoying the warm breeze on his face, when he felt as though someone was watching him. He sat up and looked in the direction he thought he had heard a rustle of leaves, and spotted a pair of blue eyes by a tree at the clearing.  _Malia._  He moved to his feet, reaching behind him to retrieve the blanket slowly, as not to startle her just in case, watching as she stood up from a crouching position, her claws and teeth receding. She looked the same with the exception of her face still half transformed, and her blue eyes, which she returned back to brown as she grew closer.

Stiles stepped up and threw the blanket around her naked shoulders, a smirk on his lips as a memory from the past flitted in his mind. Malia seemed to be on the same page as him, the familiarity of the action coming back to her. Stiles’ eyes wandered as he looked at her transformed face. He wrapped his arms around to her back once more, smiling. “I was right.” She looked beautiful.

Malia didn’t bother asking him what he meant, because she could see it written on his face. The awe, the care and…something else. She couldn’t believe how lucky she had gotten with Stiles. Here was this boy, who held her like she was the most precious thing in his world, who looked at her the same way he would her human face, who just accepted all of her without hesitation. 

All this she was feeling, she hardly knew how to put it in words.

Until she heard Stiles whisper, “I love you.”

—

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \\(◠‿◠)/ 
> 
> Okay, Lovelies! I have one more chapter for you, sort of like a short Epilogue, for this fic. First off I would like to congratulate all of you for getting through every one of my descriptive 2,500+ words per chapter. Whew! What a trip! I'm writing a Prequel to this fic about Stiles/Malia at college and I'll post the Epilogue after I'm done bridging it to this story. It just makes sense ^^
> 
> I am super happy with this chapter and I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter, as much as I loved writing it. Love much<3
> 
> ~Nenz


	9. See Me As I Am

That morning, when Malia woke up, she found herself nestled in warmth. Even in his sleep, Stiles held her protectively against him, fingers curled in her hair. Malia lay beside him observing him quietly. 

They had gone through a lot together and she still found it hard to believe their friendship had survived through all its ups and downs. Or that a year later, they would still be living together.

Things were not perfect and there was absolutely nothing normal about their relationship, although that was a given when you had a werecoyote dating a human. Plus there was the whole Peter thing. But they were learning and growing together, and to her, that was the most important thing.

Malia smiled as she studied Stiles’ face, his long eyelashes fanned out on pale skin; how it looked like he was blinking, even though his eyes were closed. 

“You’re doing it again,” Stiles muttered before opening his eyes, vision bringing Malia’s face to focus. Waking up beside Malia was quickly becoming one of his favourite things, it made him want to wrap himself around her like a cocoon, and keep her in bed for as long as he could.

Once he looked a little more alert, Malia asked, “Ready to go see some more houses with me?”

Stiles groaned loudly, “Can we maybe _not_ talk about this in the morning?”

“We have put this off long enough Stiles.”

“I know, I know, but I’m still tired from my shift yesterday. It’s my first day off since I got a job at the coffee shop.”

“Which is why we need to use this day productively.” Malia reasoned.

“Or,” Stiles tugged Malia on top of him, smiling impishly. “We could laze in bed. Then I can make you some toast and eggs and then we can go for a drive, maybe a movie after…”

“Tempting,” Malia rested her chin on his chest, “Except we’re out of eggs and bread probably. And milk. And cereal.”

Stiles made a face at the thought of grocery shopping on a Sunday, “Maybe we can survive on air then.” he said jokingly.

“You might not even have that for long,” Malia teased, before placing her lips on top of his. 

Stiles honestly couldn’t think of a better way to start his day, than this. 

—

Stiles went to join the line up at the campus bookstore, when he noticed the person standing in front of him was Carol. He was about to turn and line up elsewhere, when she saw him and waved. Well. There was no way this wasn’t going to be awkward. 

Stiles stood behind her, “Hey. How’s it going?”

“Not bad. You?” Carol asked politely.

“I’m great actually.” Stiles grinned at her, thinking about Malia. It felt good to be ‘taken’, especially when bumping into someone he had previously dated, albeit briefly. 

“Hey, did you move out by any chance?” Carol asked, “I haven’t really seen you around much.”

Stiles looked at her surprised, “Yeah, well rent went up. Couldn’t afford campus living anymore. Can barely afford my new place, which is why I got a job.” 

Carol smiled, before asking another question, “So are you and Malia still a thing?”

 _Still a thing?_   

Stiles caught off guard by the wording, took a moment to answer, “Yeah, yeah we are.”

“I’m happy to hear that,” she said, before turning toward the counter. Once she had made her payment, Carol turned back around, “Well, it was nice bumping into you. Take care,” and then walked away briskly without waiting for Stiles to respond.

“Not awkward at all.” Stiles muttered to himself as he fished out his wallet to pay for his books. His cashier who clearly heard, grinned before asking for his credit card.

—

Stiles leaned against his Jeep, as he waited for Malia to come out of her class. She had asked him to come pick her up, so they could go directly to the movies after her lecture. 

When he spotted her coming out of the lecture building, he stepped out front so she would know where he was waiting, but Malia wasn’t looking at the parking lot. She was looking behind her shoulder. 

Stiles saw a boy stop beside her, chatting away. He frowned as he watched the interaction between them. Anyone who might see these two in passing, would assume they were dating, with the guy not so subtly leaning a little too into Malia’s personal space. Needless to say, Stiles didn’t like the thought one bit.

—

Malia shouldered her bag as she absentmindedly listened to her classmate. Stiles and her were supposed to be heading out to the drive-in right about now, but evading Trevor had proven to be challenging. 

If he continued talking, Malia would have to cut him off which she hated doing, especially with how eager he seemed to discuss whatever they were discussing. She had sort of tuned out at some point and got back in a couple times after.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Stiles approaching her. Relief at possibly being rescued from Mr. Boring Pants became short lived, as without a word, Stiles wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her in for a kiss.   

Malia stumbled at the impact, her back hitting one of the pillars leading up to the stairs. Stiles slid his hand down to her waist, tilting her head to the side, deepening the kiss.

Stiles was not a huge fan of PDA, which is why this sudden outward affection took her by surprise. A surprise that delayed any form of polite excuse she might have given, because Stiles’ tongue was doing wonderful things for her. 

Malia quickly pushed Stiles away after a moment. “What are you doing?”

“Kissing you, obviously.” Stiles replied leaning back in, but Malia put her hand on his chest, giving him a pointed look. Stiles licked his lips, looking annoyed, “He was flirting with you.”

“No he wasn’t. We were just talking.” Malia protested lightly.

But Stiles was already shaking his head. “Lia I _know_ what flirting looks like. _That_ guy,” he pointed at her quickly departing classmate, “was flirting with you.” 

“Stiles,” Malia smiled softly as she cupped his face between her palms. “I love _you_. Now stop with this Alpha male possessiveness,” Malia smoothed her hands down his chest, to wrap them around his waist as she continued, “that although looks _so_ very hot on you, is also not necessary.”

It was then that she noticed Stiles looking at her with an expression she couldn’t place. 

“Stiles?” When he continued to look at her, she called his name out again.

“You said it back,” Stiles said finally in a hushed whisper. “Its been three months since. You just said it back.”

Malia confused, thought back to the words she had said previously. And that’s when it hit her. Three little words that had so much power to them. And here, she had said them so casually. Naturally. As it should be.

Malia gave him a shy smile, but looked at him in a way she hoped he knew, she had meant it. Stiles nudged her nose gently and they stood there with stupid smiles, completely forgetting their surroundings. 

— 

When Malia entered their apartment with the mail, Stiles was rummaging through the bookshelf in their living room. “Want to know something funny?” Stiles asked from where he was poking around. Malia hummed at him to show she was listening, as she walked into the kitchen and looked in the fridge.

“Every third person I talk to about the fact that we are now dating, seem to think we already were. Especially people from our old complex.” Stiles turned to Malia as she stepped into the living room, to pick up their phone to order take-out. “You know anything about that?”

“Nope,” she paused, thinking about the Christmas party. It seemed like such a long time ago. “Well... maybe. I might have accidentally implied we were dating when we weren’t.”

“If you are the reason I was single for so long—not because people weren’t interested in me, but because they thought I had someone already—I’m going to kill you,” Stiles said as he approached her. 

“Then who will you watch…,” Malia lifted the hand that Stiles was holding a VHS in before turning to him, “Really? That’s our Date Night movie?”

“Its about time I Star Wars you,” he said an evil smile growing on his face.

—

Stiles grinned as he lay down behind her. Head on the armrest, he moved Malia back so they were spooning, before starting the movie. Very soon after, Malia got so engrossed in the movie, she barely blinked while watching and she surprised Stiles by asking if they could put the next one in. 

When they settled back down, Stiles instead of watching the screen, observed Malia which he found to be very entertaining. She would frown if she was puzzled by something, or raise her eyebrows when something surprised her or make a face at some corny dialogue, scoffing under her breath. 

On occasion, she would murmur a question back to him, and Stiles basically knowing every line by heart, had no trouble responding to her queries. It wasn’t until a certain scene, that Malia caught on to the fact that Stiles wasn’t paying attention to the movie. 

“Wait! Those two are siblings?” Malia turned part-way shocked, when she saw Stiles’ amused smile. “You’re not even watching are you?” Malia asked after pausing the movie. There was a slight accusatory tone in her voice.

“Not really,” Stiles answered shrugging.   

Malia moved so she was on her stomach, leaning over Stiles on her elbows. “Do you not want to? We can see something else?”

Stiles was quiet as he looked up into her warm brown eyes. “Say it again,” 

Malia knew immediately what Stiles was referring to this time, and she ducked her head to hide her blush. She looked at him after a moment and whispered it like it was a secret, her breath ghosting over his lips, “I love you.”

Stiles’ eyes travelled around her face, and he reached up to tuck strands of hair behind her ear. “Again.”

“I love yo—” Malia was cut off as the hand resting gently on the back of her neck, pulled her forward, their lips meeting in a sweet, yet heated kiss. 

Raising his shoulders off the couch Stiles sat up, wrapping Malia’s legs around him. He tilted his head to the side, Malia mirroring him, as they slotted their mouths together over and over again. 

Stiles’ fingers slipped under Malia’s shirt, drawing slow circles over her skin, as he slowly dragged the shirt up and over her head tossing it into a corner, before slipping his tongue back into her hot mouth. Malia tasted so sweet. He felt like he could do this, kiss her, forever. 

As soon as she lost her shirt, Stiles’ hands were all over her in an instant, caressing her back, fingers playing with her hair, but neither hand staying in one place for too long. Just teasing touches here and there. 

Malia wrapped her legs tighter around Stiles, burying her fingers in his thick hair. She nipped at his lower lip before licking over it, and sucking it into her mouth, her ministrations earning her a deep moan.  

Malia’s hands travelled from Stiles’ hair to land on either side of his face, where they rested as she broke their kiss. Stiles’ eyes fluttered open, and the hungry, drunken look he gave her sent a pleasant shiver down her spine. His eyes were nearly black, with his pupils blown wide, his mouth parted and red. 

At his questioning look, Malia tugged at his shirt, a clear order to get it off.

Stiles quickly stripped out of his shirt, throwing it somewhere across the room. He then flipped them so they were laying down, this time with him on top, smirking down at her expression.

“Unless you want to move this to the bedroom?” he asked eyebrow raised, the implication of his words clear.

Malia shook her head smiling, “This is perfect,” she whispered, closing the space between them once more.    

—

Malia lay down beside her mate, watching the slow rise and fall of Stiles’ chest, a soft smile lingering on his lips as he slept. With their fingers thread together, Malia could feel his heartbeat against her knuckles pressed against his chest.  

As she listened to the steady rhythm, her eyes closing slowly, she thought about how Stiles might not have been her first kiss, but he had certainly been her first in every other sense. Her first real friend, her first crush, and most importantly, her first love. And she knew in her heart, she wanted him to be her last.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hullo Lovelies! Here we are at the end ^^ I had originally intended for the epilogue to be short, but I guess I had a lot more to write than I originally thought. I am quite happy with the journey I took these two characters on, from beginning to end. I grew quite attached to them to be honest. I love writing college Stalia, so there will be other stories by me in the future. 
> 
> Thank you to all of you for sticking with me. You guys are the best and your comments were very sweet and I honestly loved each and every one of them!! I hope you enjoyed the chapter as much as I loved writing it. Cheers  
> ~Nenz :)

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first solo fanfiction writing in any fandom, so please be gentle. I was looking for a fake/pretend Stalia a while back and couldn't find one, and then this happened! I originally started writing on Tumblr, but I thought how it would be cool if people did not have to search the tags in order to find the chapters. I'll update as fast as I can time permitting :) All mistakes are my own.


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